Operation: Horizon Guard
by Sir Perfluous
Summary: After the end of the Lighthouse War, a temporary calm has returned until a faction of Erusean rebels use a new secret weapon to threaten the peace. With Princess Rosa's provisional government in jeopardy, Trigger and the pilots of Strider Squadron are called upon for one more sortie to protect the fragile promise of peace and stability in Usea.
1. The Gathering Storm

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Ace Combat. Fanfic Authors even challenge the true sky.**_

_**All right pilots, I'm finally back for an encore and with the upcoming release of some DLC missions, I decided to give you a fun little DLC mission of my own. And because I'm such a nice guy, I'll even give it to you for free! This story is set after my Lighthouse War Trilogy so if you haven't read that yet, it might be a little helpful to some of the plot points here. That aside, let's strap into our Raptors and join Strider Squadron for one more sortie.**_

* * *

**Tyler Island Air Base, Usea**  
**September 14, 2020**

The sounds of ringing metal and power tools filled the air as I made my way into the main hangars of the air base. The doors had been opened letting in the mild autumn air and the long golden rays of the morning sun. The place seemed busy and while a few less patrols had been scheduled today, it looked as if many of the base's mechanics were already hard at work using the opportunity to catch up on extra repairs and maintenance. I made my way past an F-16 Falcon that was getting its wing flaps replaced and I stopped, thinking about how much had changed in just a year... about how much I had changed. One year ago, the Osean Federation had been fighting a ferocious war with Erusea over the Space Elevator just north of here on the continent. I had been a relatively green Lieutenant flying an F-16, and in one year I had become a Captain flying a Raptor and leading the elite LRSSG.

I paused to remember the people I flew with in my old unit of Mage Squadron, and how I had come to forge even stronger bonds with the ex-convicts of the penal unit Spare Squadron: with Count, Tabloid, and Avril. One year ago, I remembered how we fought to retake this island and broker an alliance with the former Eruseans who had occupied it. I remembered how we brokered that peace through our friendship with Erusea's princess, Rosa Cossette D'Elise... as well as my own special friendship with her. I paused again to spare her a thought as I looked out over the sunlit runways in the distance. It had been a while since we last spoke as our lives had been busy and our respective duties kept us apart. Even now, there was still a lot to do. Princess Rosa had taken on the task of leading humanitarian efforts to care for the victims of the Lighthouse War, as well as stabilize Erusea's government.

With the war over, the mission of Strider Squadron and the OADF had transitioned toward more of a peacekeeping role. IUN forces had reestablished a presence in Usea to protect Osea's allies from the fallout of the war. Although the warmongering faction of Erusean Radicals had been crushed, stubborn pockets of resistance still remained on the continent carrying out supply raids and low level terrorism. The Kingdom of Erusea had insisted that they take the lead in dealing with the problem leaving our IUN forces to stand by in reserve. I knew I should have been content to fly quiet routine patrols and be glad that I was far from any combat zones. But part of me still yearned for the thrill of battle and the rush that came with it. After all, I was a fighter pilot and that restlessness was in my blood. In that sobering moment, I couldn't help but wonder if that was how Mihaly had felt too.

My attention was pulled back to reality when I heard a familiar female voice calling my name, "Hey dumbass! Over here!"

I looked across the hangar to see my friend Avril "Scrap Queen" Mead standing on a ladder and wrenching on the fuselage of an F-22. As usual, her face was grimy and her hands were covered in oil as she gave a wave with her tool, "Are you going to stare off into space all day, or are you going to give a girl a hand here?"

I walked over with a chuckle and began to give her a slow golf clap to mess with her. Her lip curled in amusement as she pointed toward her toolbox, "Ha. Ha. Very funny Trigger. Would you mind making yourself useful and handing me that spanner over there?"

I did as she asked and then put my hands on the hips of my flightsuit, "Hey Avril. What's up?"

"I could ask you the same thing," she said idly as she worked, "Isn't today your day off? What are you still doing hanging around here?"

"I dunno. I guess I was just kinda bored today and went for a walk," I admitted, "Things have been a little too quiet lately and it's driving me nuts."

Avril snorted as she dug around inside the plane she was working on, "Speak for yourself. Compared to what I was doing during the war, this is a vacation. You must really miss flying combat sorties, huh?"

I grimaced and gave her a sheepish shrug, "Well... maybe just a little."

Avril sighed and shook her head as she gently teased me, "Well... I would offer to let you help me work on these planes but you'd probably just get in the way and make more work for me."

I crossed my arms and gave a small frown causing her to wave it off with her wrench, "Why don't you go set up a playdate with the boys? I'm sure Count and Tabloid don't have anything important to do today either."

"They already went off-base to have lunch with Longcaster. Knowing the Major, they're going to be gone for a while," I laughed.

Avril nodded thoughtfully, "Hmm. Then in that case, maybe try giving your 'girlfriend' a call? And while you're at it, tell Rosa to reply to my emails too."

I grimaced again, "Maybe... I mean, she has been busy lately. I know the Erusean government is back in session and she's trying to get that mess sorted out."

"All the more reason to call her," Avril pointed out as she worked, "You want to keep things going there and I'm sure she'd be grateful for the distraction."

I nodded and dug around in the pocket of my flightsuit for my phone, "Yeah... maybe you're right. Thanks Avril. I'll catch you later."

She watched me depart and shook her head with a small smile before getting back to work, "Same old Trigger. Ace in the skies, dumbass on the ground."

I dialed a number and brought the phone to my ear, "Hi. Rosa? It's me..."

* * *

**Farbanti City, Kingdom of Erusea**  
**Parliament Building**

"Tom? Is that you? I'm so glad to hear from you," Rosa said as she answered her phone and quickly walked down the bustling central hallways of the civil government building. The young princess of Erusea was flanked by a pair of security guards as well as a small entourage of government officials trailing behind her chattering away about the meetings that would resume shortly. They would be important negotiations and Rosa had made sure to look immaculate, touching up her makeup and wearing her best white business dress and blazer.

"I wish I had more time to talk," she apologized as she tried to elbow aside an official who wanted a signature on a document, "But I'm afraid I'll be stuck in meetings for at least another day or so. The negotiations? They're... going slow, but my team has to try and be patient just as I know you have been with me. I'm so sorry I haven't been able to schedule a time to fly in and visit but you know how things are going here."

"Princess?" one of her ministers named Soult pestered her quietly from nearby.

Rosa waved him off in mild annoyance before getting back to her cellphone, "Yes, I know. Thank you for understanding Tom. I miss you too and I'm sorry. I'll try to contact you soon."

She quickly ended her call with a sigh before turning back to her aides as they walked into a large conference room. Minister Soult handed her a binder and quickly led her to a seat at the table facing the leaders of other opposing political parties, "Your Highness, here is your agenda for the meeting as well as your notes. We're counting on you today so please, do be focused?"

Rosa held back a grimace before she offered the other government leaders a pleasant greeting. Ever since she had delved into public life, Rosa had always been a very expressive and charismatic figure. She had once helped to rally troops to war and then later swayed the minds of her people back toward a path of peace, but even in the absence of shooting, a very different kind of conflict remained. It was one aspect of politics that she disliked and did not find herself as well suited to. Now was the time to posture and wear a political poker face toward her opponents. She took a deep breath and spoke calmly, "Gentlemen... welcome. I believe we all know why we're here so let's not waste time and get right to it?"

"Your Highness," one of the short balding party leaders began, "Your proposal for government reforms has many good points, but my party feels there are still some issues... regarding executive and military powers?"

Rosa regarded him with a level gaze, "Yes? I would have thought further restrictions on executive war powers would be favorable to the conservative parties."

"They are," a tall gray haired army general by the name of Ricci argued, "However... given the unrest that is still going on, we fear those measures might hinder our ability to respond quickly and decisively."

"It was those same overly quick and decisive actions that precipitated the last war," Rosa countered, "I will not let the country be drawn into such destructive actions so quickly again."

Mr. Joffrey Goulard of Erusea's left-wing party spoke up. "That may be so Princess Rosa, but the Liberal Democratic party still rejects the proposal and the plan to restructure Parliament. Many of us have voiced a lack of confidence in the provisional government's ability to quell the Radical insurgents and rogue officers who still remain at large on the continent."

Rosa prepared to argue toward the thin greasy looking man with beady eyes but one of her supporters beat her to the punch.

"Ah yes... your fellow Radicals whom you sympathized with no more than a few months ago? The ones you praised for fighting for their ideals?" Minister Soult sniped back.

Rosa held up a hand to stop the men on both sides from fighting, "Enough. I want to reassure the liberal parties that once we form a unified government again, we will be able to restructure the royal forces and properly deal with the Erusean Revolutionary Army."

"Your Highness, I would caution you to not be dismissive of the ERA," General Ricci pointed out, "The remnants of Enrico Moretti's loyalists are still led by some capable officers. We have intelligence that they are gathering under the banner of an Air Force Major named Jean Bouchere and that they are preparing some kind of attack on Farbanti.

Ever the political opportunist, Joffrey Goulard smiled, "I believe now is your chance to prove us wrong Your Highness. If you can stop the rebel forces for good and prove that you're strong enough to protect Erusea, then I will see what I can do about convincing my party to form a coalition government."

The room went quiet and all eyes turned expectantly on her. At this point, Rosa had little choice but to call her opponent's bluff. She had not wanted to tackle any more military issues today, but this was a bit of an elephant in the room and a sticking point to the negotiations. She regarded Goulard with a level gaze and gave a curt nod, "Very well. We'll postpone further meetings until the '_prompt'_ resolution of the rebel matter."

As the meting began to adjourn, Rosa bit her lip. Now that the meeting finished early, she debated over making a personal call but she gave a sigh when her generals waved her over to ask some questions. She had known that putting her kingdom back together was not going to be easy... she just didn't expect that it would become so demanding of her every moment either.

* * *

**Chopinburg Rainforests, Usea**

A thin mist hung over the river estuary of Chopinburg's coastline as Major Jean Bouchere looked out over the waters. Late afternoon sunlight was beginning to fade over the rainforest treeline but the hot steamy air remained. Several flies and mosquitoes buzzed about and Jean gave an annoyed snarl as he swatted them away. He hated this hot bug infested hellhole and he couldn't wait to be free of it. All he had to do was be a little more patient. The young Erusean Air Force officer turned back to the map he had laid out on the table of the cabin which served as his temporary HQ. As the commander of the Erusean Revolutionary Army, he had expected that things would be difficult and uncomfortable. Ever since Enrico Moretti and the larger part of his armed Radical supporters were crushed at the Lighthouse, the burden of carrying on their glorious revolution was placed on his ambitious shoulders.

The blond handsome man in his early thirties pored over the map of Usea and coordinated the ERA's next move. For now, he was relieved that he could marshal some of his forces here while the fools back in Farbanti squabbled among themselves. They had been able to do very little against the ERA's raids and Jean felt further relief that the IUN peacekeepers had been forced to remain largely inactive. Whether it was because of the stubborn pride of Usean nations believing they could police their own regions, the Osean Federation and the IUN's hands were politically tied. Major Bouchere hoped he could use that to his advantage so that they could strike a decisive blow against the illegitimate government of Princess Rosa in Erusea.

There was a knock at the door and Jean looked up in surprise, "Come in."

The door opened and two people entered. One was a younger Air Force captain by the name of Volpe while the other one was a stern faced red headed woman in civilian clothes. She carried a small gym bag slung under her arm and held it protectively. Captain Volpe saluted, "Sir. I've brought you Agent Benoit just as you asked."

Jean looked to the female intelligence agent and gave a polite nod, "Miss Benoit. A pleasure to finally meet you. You have the package?"

"That depends. Do you have my money?"

Jean chuckled and handed her a tablet, "The money's been wired directly to your hidden bank account. See for yourself."

Benoit looked over her account and gave a nod before handing over the bag, "It wasn't easy, but I finally got it. I doubt it won't be long before Grunder Industries and the rest of the Osean Federation finds out what happened."

"That won't matter now," Jean grinned as he looked inside the bag, "By that time, we'll have brought Farbanti to its knees."

Jean's aide Captain Volpe gave a curious look as he peeked over inside the bag, "Sir? If I may ask, how do you intend to do that?"

Jean produced a round device fixed to a module, "By enacting Mr. Moretti's contingency plan: the Ragnarok Protocol. This machine is another gift stolen from Grunder Industries called Project Harbinger. Not only had they been working on drone technology, they had also been experimenting with weather manipulation too. Once we mount this machine to our ship, we'll be able to bring a storm to Erusea, the likes of which has never been seen before."

Not far from the river, a naval cruiser under the ERA's control lay docked and waiting, protected from detection by powerful jammers set up near the delta. Jean walked back to his map and studied the force disposition around western Usea. "Let's relay the message along to the rest of our forces. Once all the pieces are finally in place, we're going to make our move."

* * *

**Tyler Island Air Base, Usea**

Later that evening, I took some time to relax in one of the officers' lounge rooms after dinner. I sat at a table with a hot cup of coffee while typing a few lines on my small laptop that I had open. At that moment, I heard a knock at the door and looked up to see the faces of two more friends enter the room. Both the man and woman with the TAC names of Count and Huxian were my wingmates in Strider Squadron. The young dark haired woman with oriental features gave a casual salute as she plopped down on a couch nearby, "Hey, Captain Richter! There you are. We were looking around for you after dinner."

"Yeah, Huxian and I wanted to see if you wanted to shoot some pool with us in the rec room," Count said sitting down with her on the couch. For a long time, the young fair featured man had been my wingmate and rival back during our days at the 444th. Even though he still had a bit of an attitude and a big ego at times, Count had proven himself as a worthy pilot and friend when he became my Number 2 during the prior war. "Lin and I were thinking we could play doubles and since you're the odd man out here, old man Jaeger could be your date tonight."

I rolled my eyes at his gentle teasing before Huxian slapped his arm and stifled his laughter. "Eugene... be nice."

"Yeah, Eugene. Be nice," I taunted him back giving a light whip cracking gesture with my wrist. Count gave a mild huff and waved it off.

"Whatever Trigger. What are you working on there anyway? Planning next week's training exercises?"

I pointed to my laptop, "Oh, this? I was actually trying to write an email to my cousin Naomi. She's a little younger than me and she's also a pilot serving in the OADF."

"You don't say..." Count grinned scratching his chin with a wolfish smile, "Is she cute? Single maybe?"

"I'm about to be single in a minute when I murder my boyfriend here," Huxian retorted issuing a playful threat to Count as she grabbed his collar. She turned her head toward me, "You might as well start typing up that court martial right here Captain Richter. You're about to become a witness."

"All right. Knock it off you two," I laughed while gently breaking it up, "No one is killing anyone here and no Count. My cousin is off limits. She was suggesting that she put in for a transfer so that she could be stationed here in Usea with me, but after all the shit we saw here last year, I'd rather she stay away from any combat zones."

Huxian sighed, "To be fair Trigger, things have been painfully boring around here too. With the IUN keeping us grounded, I'm betting we're just going to be sitting on our asses here anyway."

Lin's words were almost prophetic as Tabloid suddenly gave a knock at the door and peeked his head into the room, "Uh hey everyone. You're not going to believe this, but the Major is asking to see Strider Squadron."

"Whatever it is, I didn't do it..." Count said but Tabloid shook his head.

"No, you fool. This is an official briefing. Sounds like something important is going down. Come on."

I exchanged a quick look with my two wingmates before we stood up and headed out the door with our things. Although we were all eager and excited for a brand new assignment after months of inactivity, part of me couldn't help but feel a small bit of dread inside too. We thought we would probably be involved in a simple mop-up operation, but we would soon find out, a storm was coming and we were right about to fly into the teeth of it.


	2. The Rainmakers

_**Tyler Island Air Base, Usea**_  
_**September 14, 2020**_

Count, Huxian, and I made our way across the grounds of the air base campus following Tabloid until we reached one of the largest complexes that served as the HQ building. Upon reaching the conference room, we were met by other members of the squadron, Jaeger and Lanza along with our AWACS Longcaster. The heavyset major with a well trimmed mustache greeted us and headed to the front of the room assisted by a few other lower ranking staff officers who were passing out some written papers to us.

As we took our seats, the lights dimmed and a digital map was brought up on the main screen at the head of the room. The display showed a picture of Grunder Industries along with its corporate logo and a few other photos. One picture looked to be that of a middle aged man in a white labcoat with some hints of gray in his short dark hair and his trimmed beard. The other photo showed kind of circular device with a large module base and cables protruding from it. As some text began to fill in at the margins, Longcaster cleared his throat and began the formal briefing, "All right pilots, here's the situation. Two days ago, the Osean Central Intelligence Agency learned of a break-in at Grunder Industries. As you know, the company has a rather unsavory history and is responsible for great scientific breakthroughs, but also terrible abuses of that same technology. I don't think I need to remind anyone here of the drone program fiasco that fueled the recent Lighthouse War."

"Great. The mad scientists just don't know when to quit," Count scoffed in quiet derision, "What did those egg-heads do now? Build a bigger nuke? Maybe create a time machine to change the Belkan War?"

Longcaster ignored Count's comments and continued, pointing to the picture of the scientist, "This is Dr. Wilhelm Eisner. He was working on a special project and conducted tests under the supervision of the Osean government. He had been tasked to study technology that would allow for the manipulation of weather. The purpose of which are such things as seeding clouds and creating rain for farmers."

"Huh... that's something," Huxian chimed in with a curious tone, "I don't suppose they could clear up bad weather so that our fighter planes can fly too?"

Longcaster gave a grim smile, "You're not too far off Lt. Zhang. There are people who are believed to be interested in this technology so that they can weaponize it instead... perhaps cause global weather catastrophes. We have reason to believe those people belong to the Erusean Revolutionary Army."

Everyone in the squadron suddenly grew serious and quiet as Longcaster went on, "Two days ago, Dr. Eisner was found dead along with two Grunder security guards. It looked like a professional job and the only things stolen were the two prototype devices that Eisner was working on. Those devices belonged to a program called Project Harbinger."

"Gee... that doesn't sound ominous at all," I quipped in mild sarcasm to my wingmates around me.

"Osean Intelligence believes they've been able to track the ERA agent who stole Harbinger and carried it on to the continent," Longcaster explained while bringing up a mp display of the western half of the Usean continent. Some red circles appeared indicating the presence of zones occupied by hostile forces. "This coincides with a buildup of rebel forces to the east of Erusea. Intel suggests that ERA forces are hiding in the mountains near Sierraplata and are preparing to attack Erusea using this Harbinger weapon."

My thoughts quickly shifted to Rosa for a moment and I worried about her. Did she even know what was going on? Had her defense ministers given her a briefing on this yet?

Those idle thoughts were interrupted as Lanza excitedly pounded his fist into his hand, "All right! Finally! I'm guessing our mission is to search and destroy, right Major?"

"I'm afraid it's not going to be that simple Lanza," said Longcaster, "This is going to be a joint operation with the Erusean military. The royal forces have insisted that they take the lead in dealing with their rebels so IUN forces are going to be providing extra air support with Strider Squadron."

All of us gave a mild grumble at having to play ball with the IUN's requests, nor did we like the idea of Erusean forces leading the charge. But like Huxian had alluded to earlier, it was better than sitting on our asses doing nothing. Longcaster went on, "As you know, the rebel army is led by a former Air Force Major named Jean Bouchere, an Erusean Radical and a loyal follower of Mr. Moretti. They might not be as powerful as they were during the Lighthouse War, but we can't afford to let our guards down either. We expect there are going to be a lot of mountains and tight corridors so prepare for a lot of surface to air defenses."

"I take it we're providing air cover for the Eruseans then?" I asked.

Longcaster raised a finger, "Strider Squadron will be tasked to cover one of the zones in the operation area. You job is destroy any and all ERA targets on the ground or in the air. If any allies get in trouble, you should be ready to assist as well. Most importantly, you are to keep a lookout for one of the vehicles carrying Harbinger. The ERA will be using multiple decoys to sneak past our forces and get it closer to Farbanti."

"How do we know which is which?" Jaeger asked raising a hand.

"Your fighters will be equipped with special sensors to pick up activity from the Harbinger weapon," Longcaster explained, "Devices like Harbinger are designed to ionize the air with negative charges in order to affect weather so if you fly in a little closer and get a good read, you should be able to zero in on your targets."

I crossed my arms and studied the tactical map, "Do we know when the enemy is preparing to move?"

"The ERA is still gathering. We're expecting the attack to come in three days time and when it does, we're going to be ready for them. In the mean time, make the necessary preparations. Good luck Strider Squadron."

We rose from our chairs as the meeting adjourned and my squadron gathered around. The older veteran pilot of our unit by the TAC name of Jaeger took one more look at the display and scratched his chin, "Well... what do you make of it Trigger? We've already been to Sierraplata and it doesn't seem like anything we haven't done before."

"And at least we're not chasing down IRBMs either," Count added.

I nodded and furrowed my brow in thought, "Maybe... I just hope that this Harbinger weapon will not be fully operational. Scouring the mountains will be bad enough. The last thing we need is inclement weather."

"Not to worry Trigger. You'll have an extra set of eyes to help you," Tabloid smiled as he clapped my shoulder. Following the Lighthouse War, Tabloid had returned to active duty and after some extra time in training, he qualified to fly with Strider Squadron as our sixth member. I gave my other old friend from the 444th a grateful smile and nodded.

"Thanks Tabloid. We'll be glad to have you out there. Now... like Longcaster said, I want all of you to start making preparations. We're going to head out in three days so we have to be ready."

As the squadron dispersed for the evening, I took a moment and think things over for myself. There would be a lot to do and people to coordinate with, not least of which the squadron commanders of the EAF. I debated contacting Rosa, but I knew she was busy right now. The last thing she needed was to worry about me for the next few days. Until then, I'd just have to make sure that I was busy too.

* * *

_**Chopinburg Rainforests, E.R.A. Cruiser **_**Jörmungandr**

The dark waters of the coastal estuary lapped the armored flanks of the Erusean cruiser _Jörmungandr_ as it lay docked off the coast, awaiting the final order to set sail. On the deck of the hijacked warship, Major Jean Bouchere kept a vigilant eye on the work crews who labored to install the Harbinger device to the top of the ship's main tower. He was restless to get underway and carry out his mission, but he knew he had to be patient and wait just a little bit longer. Jean turned his gaze south, out toward the dark oceans where he was headed. Up above, the stars twinkled on the horizon and if there was one good thing about being stuck in the middle of nowhere, the night skies were spectacular once you got past the thick treeline of the rainforest. Jean heard footsteps approach from across the deck and he turned to face his younger aide, Captain Volpe.

The younger man stopped at attention and gave a respectful salute, "Major Bouchere? You called for me?"

"Captain Volpe. Yes," Jean answered with a slow nod, "Have our allies been contacted and the preparations been made?"

Volpe nodded, "Yes sir. The diversionary forces in Sierraplata are preparing to move with the second Harbinger prototype."

"Good. Their job will be to hamper the peacekeeping forces and distract them," Jean said as they walked the deck toward the bow of the ship. "I want you to have your pilots in Cobra Squadron prepared to launch as well. Your orders will be to head north toward Sierraplata and provide assistance to our allies there."

"You're asking us to sacrifice ourselves in that battle? Volpe asked in surprise.

"No, Jean said shaking his head, "Put up token resistance there and then withdraw to rendezvous with the _Jörmungandr_. We'll need a few days near the equator before heading north."

Volpe looked up and eyed the Harbinger device being installed on the cruiser, "Do you really think that thing will work? That it will be able to create a hurricane?"

"Not just a hurricane," Jean corrected him, "A super hurricane. One that the _Jörmungandr_ will carry north and flatten Princess Rosa's government with."

Volpe remained silent as he considered the potential power of such a weapon. No doubt such a storm would probably add another sunken district to the city of Farbanti. Nor would the Erusean Air Force be able to respond as the storm would likely ground their fighter planes. "I understand. We'll be ready, sir."

"Very good Captain," Jean said as he walked off to take care of other matters, "And be on your guard. I understand the IUN may field one of its veteran units in the coming battle, Strider Squadron."

"The same one that defeated Moretti at the Lighthouse and ended the war?" Volpe asked.

"Yes... led by none other than that pilot called Three Strikes himself."

* * *

_**D'Elise Family Manor**__**, Farbanti City  
****September 16, 2020**_

A few busy days had passed before Princess Rosa retired to her family home for the evening. She had gone from meetings with officials in the civil government to strategy sessions with the commanders of the royal military. They had told her about a large rebel force gathering in the east near Sierraplata and how they might have been carrying some sort of new experimental weapon. Plans were underway for the Erusean military to stop them along with some help from the Osean led IUN forces. She wondered if Tom and his squadron were being deployed and she felt guilty that she didn't have time until this evening to really think about it.

On that brisk autumn evening, Rosa sat in the den of her family's estate, curled up on the couch. A warm comforting fire crackled nearby in the fireplace and Rosa set down a cup of tea on the coffee table beside her. She looked down and affectionately scratched the ears of her loyal golden retriever Prince as he lounged on the couch beside her and rested his head in her lap. She gave a wistful sigh as she idly stroked her dog's fur, "What do you think, boy? Should I call him? It's already been days since I've had a free minute."

Prince gave a mid whine and rubbed his head into her hand, "Hmm... you think so too, huh? You don't think he'll be upset with me, do you?"

The dog made a snuffling sound and jumped down from the couch, padding out of he room as if to allow her a little privacy. Rosa gave a faint smile before picking up her phone and dialing a number. She waited, listening to the ringtone before she heard an answer, "Hello, Tom? Can you hear me?"

* * *

_**Tyler Island Air Base, Usea**_

"I can hear you," I smiled as I walked toward the hangars of the air base. It was already late and the squadron was preparing to launch soon so that we'd reach the target area at dawn, "How are you, Cossette?"

"Worried," she answered, "I've been told there's going to be fighting with rebel forces soon and I wondered if you were going to be part of it."

I paused a minute and winced, "I am... I would have told you sooner, but we were busy and I didn't want you to worry too much. You have enough on your plate already."

She sighed, "Yes... I suppose you're right. I was wondering if there was any way I could help. Maybe..."

"No," I answered, "I'm sorry Rosa but can't talk about the operation with anyone else right now. Not even you. All I can tell you is that I'll be heading out soon and that I won't be able to speak with you for a while yet."

"I understand. It seems like we just keep missing each other," she said with a resigned sigh, "Funny how we thought things would actually be easier after the war, huh?"

Even if she wasn't present, I wore an apologetic look on my face as I chuckled softly, "Hmm. We knew our jobs were difficult when we took them."

"Promise me you'll be careful Tom?"

"I'll do my best Your Highness," I answered as I ended the call and entered the hangar bays. Even at night, the place was hopping with ground crews doing last minute preparations for Strider Squadron's planes. Avril came over from nearby wiping her hands into a rag which hung at the belt of her orange coverall pants. "Well Trigger, your fighter is finally prepped and ready."

She held out her hand expectantly and I handed over my phone to her for safe keeping. We walked across the hangar until we stopped at my F-22 Raptor parked at one corner of the bay. The hull was polished to perfection and knowing Avril's magic touch, the rest of the fighter would be tuned up to peak performance as well. Along the tail fins, she had touched up the distinctive painted emblem of the three talon slashes which had been recognized by all Erusean pilots as the mark of the infamous Three Strikes. "Thanks Avril. She looks great. It'll be nice to fly a real combat mission again... though I wish I could have taken the pulse lasers."

"Sorry. Not this time," Avril shrugged pointing to the weapon configuration on the wings, "Equipping those special sensors took up some room so everyone is going to be packing more air to surface missiles instead."

By now, the rest of my wingmates came over to check in before the mission. Everyone had suited up and gathered their flight gear as Count gave a thumbs up, "All right Trigger. You ready to run up the high score a little?"

"You bet. Let's saddle up and get this done boys," I answered before I heard Huxian clear her throat. She crossed her arms and fixed me with a pointed look before I corrected myself, "Right... sorry, and girl."

After breaking the team huddle, I climbed up the ladder of my Raptor and settled in to the cockpit seat. Just below, I watched as Avril straightened up Tabloid's shoulder harnesses before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, "Remember Steven, don't do anything stupid out there. I want that Raptor and you coming back in one piece."

He flashed his disarming lazy smile and gave a nod, "Got it, boss. Stick with Trigger and we'll make it, remember?"

"Yeah... yeah... and make sure that hotdog doesn't blow out his afterburners either," she huffed impatiently.

Tabloid quieted her with a quick peck on the lips and then gave me a wink from below, "I'll do my best. See you soon Avril."

As he hurried off to board his fighter, I closed the canopy of mine and went through more pre-flight checks as well as testing the radio comm, "Strider 1 to ground control? I'm standing by. It's go time."

* * *

_**Mountain trails of Sierraplata, Kingdom of Erusea**_  
_**September 17, 2020**_

As early morning light began to peek over the rugged mountains of the Sierraplata region, a large column of troops and armored vehicles aligned with the Erusean Revolutionary Army made its way forward through the narrow mountain passes. They were headed west toward Erusea proper but before they could, the column split into three groups to confuse their enemies who were no doubt waiting for them. What the joint Erusean and IUN forces couldn't determine either was which column was carrying the Harbinger weapon. The ERA forces had hoped they could keep their enemies off balance and guessing just long enough for them to cross the treacherous mountains and regroup, it looked like Princess Rosa's loyalists were already spoiling for a fight.

The thin clouds on the horizon were a light pink and orange as the rebel pilot Captain Volpe made his way north with his own unit. The ERA pilots of Cobra Squadron flew Typhoon fighter jets who sported a reddish paint scheme on their wings and the emblem of a king cobra 's head that was reared up and ready to strike. The squadron of Typhoon cruised high above the mountains and while they were still some distance from joining their allies to the north, they were monitoring the situation on their radars. Captain Volpe checked his sights and scanned the tops of the rugged mountain peaks wondering how this timetable was all going to play out. Major Bouchere and the _Jörmungandr_ had departed Chopinburg several hours ago. It was unclear how much time would be needed to generate a massive hurricane in the Spring Sea, but Volpe's orders were to buy as much time as they could. The thought of facing Osea's famed Strider Squadron left a pit of dread in his stomach, but the young ambitious pilot also couldn't help but feel a little curious about what they looked like up close, or if they would be enough to stop the legendary Three Strikes.

Just then, he got a radio transmission that came in over his comm line and he heard it was one of his wingmen, "Cobra 1, this is 3. I've just picked up some transmissions from the north. It looks like our allies have just started engaging the joint Royal and IUN forces."

"Understood," Volpe answered calmly as he checked his sensors, "We're still about twenty minutes out. All Cobras prepare to strike. Major Bouchere is counting on us to carry out our mission so let's not let him down."

As the rebel Typhoons roared ahead, the winds outside began to mysteriously shift leaving everyone on both sides wondering just which direction the tides of battle would turn.


	3. Cloudburst

**_Sierraplata, Kingdom of Erusea_**  
**_September 17, 2020_**

The swirling winds around the jet fighters of Strider Squadron began to pick up as my Raptor began running into small pockets of air turbulence. I kept a firm hold on the joystick, steadying my Raptor while the air continued to jostle our squadron. We had been flying since just before dawn and it wouldn't be long until we reached the operation zone. As we cruised high over the rugged mountains, I heard Tabloid radio in over the general comm line to make some observations, "Getting a little blustery out there. It also looks more overcast to the east."

"You don't think the rebels are playing with their new toy, do you?" Huxian asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

"We can't rule it out, Jaeger replied sagely, "If it helps provide some kind of screen against our forces, they'd be stupid not to use it."

I noticed some radar returns start to show up on my HUD and began to arm my weapon systems, "Let's just worry about keeping our eyes peeled for trouble in our patrol area Striders. Stand by ion sensors and stay sharp for any SAM weapons."

The Raptors of Strider Squadron throttled up and descended to get a a closer look at the winding narrow mountain passes before us. I was going to make a comment, but Longcster beat me to it and radioed in, "Strider Squadron, long range radar is showing a column of rebel forces moving toward you on the ground. Be sure to keep an eye out for Harbinger and take the ERA out."

His transmission was followed up by the wing leader of the Erusean Royal Air Force who was taking the lead in the aerial operations, "Strider Squadron, this is Crimson Leader of the Royal Air Force. Stand by for enemy contact in your zone. We're engaging the first wave of rebels right now."

"Wilco," I answered as Strider Squadron took up a holding pattern in our corner of the mountain range. "Commencing Operation Cloudburst now."

In the near distance on the gray overcast skyline, we could already see a number of Erusean Flankers and Gripens diving down to begin their attack. Streaks of smoke from missiles trailed in the air while intermittent blasts and explosions lit up the rocky valleys of Sierraplata.

"Nothing to worry about. Just like Yinshi Valley, eh Trigger?" Count asked trying to break the tension and reassure us that we had survived a similar type of environment.

"You're forgetting we were running for our lives from Mr. X," Huxian pointed out.

Tabloid also chimed in with a quiet laugh, "She's right... if I remember right, didn't you run from that battle too Count?"

Strider 2 gave an indignant huff as he lined up close to my right wing, "All right you two. Geez. Forget I even mentioned it."

I smiled quietly understanding what Count was trying to get at. I truth, I had been just as fearful as the others as I recalled my first one-on-one duel against the deadly Erusean ace Col. Mihaly A. Shilage. We had traded blows with each other amidst a raging thunderstorm and were forced to call it a draw when the weather got too bad to go on. I cleared my throat and radioed the squadron, "Whatever happened at Yinshi is in the past. Keep your eyes peeled and your guards up Striders. Prepare to attack that incoming enemy convoy."

"Righto," Count chirped as he Huxian and Tabloid moved forward to line up their shots.

"Copy that," Huxian added as she switched weapons.

I took a look around the battlefield looking for any other threats before giving a nod, "Jaeger? Lanza? You're on."

"Copy that Strider 1," Jaeger dutifully answered as he and his wingman peeled off and throttled forward while angling low to scan the ERA vehicles. After making their pass, they gave the go-ahead signal while the ERA ground forces began to try and ward us off with sporadic sprays of AA fire and some random surface to air missiles fired from mounted launchers. One by one Striders 2, 4, and 6 made rolling dives and unloaded a volley of missiles in reply at the ground targets. The three birds of prey swept by as the missiles exploded across the mountain paths immolating a number of rebel jeeps and APCs that were stopped dead in their tracks.

"Nice shooting Striders," I called from above as I kept watch and waited for Count, Huxian, and Tabloid to regroup with me. Count gave a confident laugh, "You sure you don't want to get in on this boss? You really want to let us have all the fun?"

"Keep your eyes on the prize Strider 2," I chuckled before turning back to our forward scouts, "Jaeger? Lanza?"

Strider 3 and his wingmate continued scouring the valley from above and scanning the targets for any sign of the Harbinger weapon. Jaeger almost sounded like he was shaking his head as he answered, "We're working on it Trigger. We've painted several more targets but no sign of Harbinger yet."

"These ERA bastards are like little cockroaches running for cover," Lanza growled as he avoided some incoming ground fire and replied with his own missiles.

"Understood Strider 5. Take them out," I answered noticing another pocket of strong air turbulence. In the near distance, the Erusean royal forces were still engaging the main ERA force, but the skies were growing more and more ominous. "Longcaster? I'm noticing some strange cloud formations moving in."

"We're seeing it too Strider 1," he answered, "Be advised, there's a lot of unstable air and the makings of a thunderstorm. Look out for lightning and don't get caught in any cross winds."

"Easier said than done," Tabloid complained as he adjusted his speed and fought to keep his rudder steady in the heavy winds. All experienced pilots learned to deal with adverse weather though there came a point where it could hinder operations and pose dangers to our aircraft. We weren't quite there yet, but the worry was growing in the back of our minds as Strider Squadron continued to make its way across the combat zone and dive bomb ERA targets on the ground.

"Rack em and stack em!" Huxian cheered as she blew by the last of the enemy ground units in our area and blasted them apart with a well placed pair of missiles. "I wonder if the Eruseans are having better luck?"

Just then, a call came in from the leader of Crimson Squadron as our HUDs lit up. It showed a bright beacon in the assigned zone of the royal forces, "We've found it! We've detected Harbinger!"

"All right! Let's take it out then!" Count called but Longcaster stopped him.

"Not so fast Strider 2. We haven't been given clearance to interfere in our allies' combat zones."

I gave a quiet growl of impatience agreeing with my wingman's sentiments, "Damn those joint operations restrictions. Crimson Leader, take that weapon out!"

I suddenly heard his voice rise in pitch, "Hold on... we're under attack. There are enemy missile locks!"

We saw their planes taking evasive maneuvers as several new blips showed up on our radar returns. Longcaster was already sounding the warning, "Strider Squadron, I'm picking up a large flight of hostile contacts inbound from due south. I'm lifting restrictions. You are clear to engage and destroy!"

"Wilco," I answered while the Striders regrouped and throttled up to meet the new foe. As we crossed zones and moved to intercept, Tabloid gave a call.

"Tally five bandits in red. They look like Typhoons!"

We saw the enemy bandits with cobras on their tails exchange some fire with the royal fighters and down one of the Erusean Gripens. That was when they noticed Strider Squadron's approach and began to scatter. I took off after one of the Cobras as it began an abrupt climb at a steep angle and my targeting sensors tried to get a missile lock, "Don't get split up Striders. Keep the enemy away from Harbinger."

"Crap! These guys are fast!" Huxian growled as she made a close pass around a Cobra and looped past another one. Jaeger stayed close and covered her wing, warding one off with some gunfire.

"They may not be Sol Squadron, but those Typhoons are still fast and agile."

I could see Count maneuvering off my wing and trying to threaten the same Cobra I was. I heard his voice, "Let's box this guy up Trigger. I'll break right and corral him."

"Roger that Strider 2," I answered as I followed the banking turns of the bandit. I could already see my targeting brackets go red along with the signal tone. All I had to do was line up a clean shot. Count throttled forward and cut off the Cobra from hiding in some nearby clouds by spraying some gunfire at him from the flank before swooping by. As the Typhoon made an evasive turn into a dive, I angled in and fired a missile. "Locked on target. Fox 2."

The heatseeker missile sped away from my wing and roared after the enemy fighter when the winds picked up again and rattled everyone in the air. To my shock, my missile was blown off course and the enemy Cobra evaded it easily. "What the hell? Did you see that?"

"That's the power of Project Harbinger, Three Strikes," came a radio call from an enemy fighter that bore down on me from the clouds. Judging by the accented heraldry on the Typhoon, it looked to be the leader of this Cobra Squadron. "I will not let you interfere."

"Oh yeah? And just who the hell are you?" Count spat out venomously.

The enemy pilot answered as he started to chase me and acquire a missile lock, "I am Captain Volpe of the ERA Cobra Squadron. This mission you're fighting is pointless. You can't win."

"For a nobody pilot, you seem awfully sure of yourself," I taunted back as I juked and rolled to dodge his targeting systems. I could feel the winds blowing very hard and hear a rumble of thunder from the dark skies above. If I was having trouble maneuvering, at least the enemy was too.

Volpe laughed, "You Oseans are so proud you don't even realize your own arrogance."

By now, the dark clouds above had begun to rotate at unsettling speed and rain began to fall, splattering on our canopies. If there was thunder, it was only a matter of time until... a flash lit up the skies and a searing lightning bolt split the mountain air. I could hear Longcaster cut in over the radio in my ear, "Strider Squadron. I'm picking up heavy ionized air in your region with severe weather forming.

"Thanks Control. We can see that," Lanza answered tersely as he tangled with another enemy Typhoon and played a game of aerial cat and mouse with it. "Will someone please take out that APC carrying the weapon already?"

Several royal Erusean fighters moved to attack but we were shocked when another bolt of lightning crashed down. The ion field being created by the Harbinger weapon suddenly seemed to grab control the lighting and supercharge it, before scattering it back in a plume of deadly bolts. I heard several cries as some of the bolts hit our Erusean allies. The bolts tore through the royal ground forces as well as blow several allies out of the skies. One Erusean Flanker erupted in a fireball while another one had its wing sheared off from the super powered bolt. I gave a startled cry myself as Strider Squadron scattered to evade several more bolts that were directed our way. It was hard enough to see through the rain and it was difficult to steer in the heavy wind, but the lightning still licked at the hull of our Raptors causing some damage or scorching the armor from the glancing hits.

Tabloid grunted in dread as he pushed through the storm and saw another two Erusean planes go down from another directed lightning strike. At this rate, our allied Crimson Squadron would be wiped out completely. He turned sharply and angled toward the offending APC on the ground, "Cover me. I'm going to take a shot at that thing!"

As we continued our stalemate dogfight with Cobra Squadron, Tabloid came in low and lined up his sights, "Strider 6, Fox 3."

He let loose a salvo of missiles and rolled clear, only to see that one of his missiles was blown off course while the other was destroyed by the electrified ion field above the enemy APC. The rebel vehicle accelerated from its open position and began to flee down a winding path lower in the mountain trail to try to reach some trees. Tabloid slapped his knee in frustration, "Shit! I missed! He's getting away!"

"Don't sweat it stringbean. I'm on it," Count called as he swooped in to assist his old comrade. He lined up his own shot and locked on the APC, pausing for a moment to change his mind. Huxian noticed his hesitation and spoke up.

"Count? What' going on? Take the shot already!"

Strider 2 adjusted his aim and fired his missiles in a leading shot at the rocks above the mountain road. As the missiles streak forward and struck the mountainside, they caused a small rockslide which rained down on the armored vehicle carrying Harbinger. The rocks crushed the vehicle and sent it hurtling off the cliffside hundreds of meters before it exploded in a fireball.

"All right! that's how to do it!" Lanza cheered as he and Jaeger crisscrossed around their enemies and moved to regroup with the rest of the squadron.

Meanwhile, I continued to duel with Volpe as his Typhoon pursued me aggressively. He had fired one missile which was scattered by my chaff and flares, but he continued attack. I could tell Volpe was dead set on getting his missile lock... until his plans were foiled by a stray lightning bolt from the skies. The lightning hit both of our planes and while it didn't do any significant damage, it still jolted us and scrambled the sensors of our fighters. In a situation like this, experience would pay off as this same thing had happened to me once before at Yinshi Valley and I aimed to punish this younger pilot for his reckless pursuit. Now free of his missile lock, I cut my speed and turned the nose of my Raptor up to execute a Pugachev cobra maneuver. It would only be ironic and fitting to take down Cobra leader with a move like that.

I could hear Volpe gasp in shock as he blew by and overshot my plane setting me up for a counterattack. I knew my targeting computer was still rebooting so I tried for a close shot by manual aiming. My missile streaked forward and clipped the rear of his fighter, blowing out an engine and mangling a piece of his rudder. The wounded Cobra made an evasive turn and broke away in retreat. "You got lucky this time Three Strikes. But don't think you've won or stopped the ERA. I promise you the worst is yet to come and there's nothing the IUN or Princess Rosa can do about it!"

I gave a low growl as I watched Volpe and the rest of his squadron withdraw from the airspace. My targeting computers were still resetting so it was pointless for me to give chase now. I was glad to see the rest of the Striders flying toward me and reforming around my wings. Huxian called out, "Hey Trigger? You okay? I saw you take a bolt of lightning just now."

"I'm fine Lin. About Harbinger..."

"Count destroyed it," Tabloid reported, "Should we still go after those enemy Typhoons?"

"Negative Strider 6," came the voice of Longcaster over our comms, "We've got some new information coming in and I need Strider Squadron to return to base immediately."

I glanced over to where our heavily battered Erusean allies were still reeling from the devastating lightning attacks, "Are you sure? What about the Eruseans?"

"I hate to call you back so soon, but I don't have time to explain over an open channel," he answered, "Just trust me on this Captain Richter."

I chewed my lip for a moment wondering what was going on and trying to make sense of this hasty withdrawal from a battle we just won. I trusted Longcaster and if he said it was important, then I'd just have to follow orders, "All right Striders, you heard the Major. Let's double time it home. Follow me."

Even as our silver Raptors left the airspace of Sierraplata, dark stormy clouds continued to swirl over the skies of Erusea and little did we know that it would only grow worse.

* * *

_**Tyler Island Air Base, Usea**_

By the time we returned to base, Avril stood waiting in the hangars. She paced restlessly as our six Raptors taxied in to the enclosures. Considering the way the battle went, I was sure that she was not going to happy about the work she would probably have to do. None of us had expected this Harbinger weapon to be so powerful and our fighters found out more than any of us. Although they were tough planes, the combination of shockwaves, lightning, and wind had inflicted varying degrees of damage on us, not unlike the Helios missiles of the Arsenal Birds. I could already see some lightning scorch marks on the hull of Huxian and Lanza's planes.

I knew I had suffered some hull damage as well from the powerful shockwaves and turbulent winds when Harbinger had been activated at full force. Once our fighters had been parked, the six of us pilots wearily clambered out of our cockpits while the ground crews hurried over to attend to the planes. Avril was the first to greet us as the Striders huddled up. In place of her usually cool expression and snarky attitude, our mechanic wore a genuine look of concern as she came over, "Trigger? Everyone... hey, what the hell happened out there? There were some rumors swirling about some crazy shit going down in the mountains."

"That's a little bit of an understatement," Count retorted as he tiredly scratched at some of his unruly blonde hair, "It turns out that the Harbinger weapon packed more of a punch than we expected. Erusea's eastern forces took a bit hit and several of their aircraft went down too."

"He's right. We were lucky to get out with our planes intact," Huxian added with a grim nod, "I'm just glad that the rebel forces were basically wiped out in that battle too."

I grimaced quietly and looked to my squadron, "I'm not sure Lin. I have a feeling it's not going to be as cut and dry as we think."

"What makes you say that, Tom?" Tabloid asked.

"Longcaster called us back here immediately and didn't give us a reason," I explained, "Something must be up, even if we succeeded in destroying Harbinger."

"You're half right about that Captain Richter," came the voice of our AWACS as he entered the hangars and drew all of our attention to him. The normally friendly and easygoing Major wore a serious look and he greeted us with an equally serious voice, "Strider Squadron, I'm afraid I've got bit of a mission update here... one that doesn't look good."

We all exchanged puzzled looks prompting Lanza to finally speak up, "Major?"

Longcaster furrowed his brow, "It seems that we aren't completely rid of Harbinger. There was a second unit and it wasn't even at Sierraplata."

"I don't understand. What are you talking about?" Jaeger asked.

"Osean intelligence has reason to believe that that the second Harbinger was loaded onto a captured cruiser being used by the ERA before it sailed from Chopinburg. It looks like Major Bouchere is on that ship himself."

I gritted my teeth in quiet frustration, "Damn. Then this whole thing at Sierraplata was a diversionary tactic. The rebels got away then. Do you know where they're headed Major?"

"They sailed south into the Spring Sea, but they're believed to be headed back north toward Farbanti now."

Huxian stopped and blinked in confusion, "What? Why?"

Longcaster presented a picture from a folder he was carrying and the squadron gathered around me so we could take a look at it. It looked like projections from a weather radar and it appeared that the rotating clouds of a hurricane were starting to form. Tabloid frowned and shook his head in disbelief, "No way. They wouldn't..."

"Believe it," Longcaster replied solemnly, "Part of the reason I called you back here was so that you could speak to someone who has some knowledge about Project Harbinger and might be able to help."

"I thought you said Dr. Eisner was dead," I countered.

"He's not the only scientist with some working knowledge of the project Captain," Longcaster corrected me, "Osean Eastern Command has sent us someone who has been serving time for his involvement in the last war."

He gestured for two armed guards at the door to approach with a new visitor. Those of us Striders who formerly came from Spare Squadron all stopped and stared at the sight of the familiar man being led in to greet us. He wore an orange prison jumpsuit and his wrists were cuffed in front of him. He was tall, thin, middle-aged, and had slicked back hair that had begun fading into gray. In a way, his features could have been considered handsome and patrician, along with a distinguished pair of glasses that he wore over his calm face. It had been odd seeing him like this, from once being a brilliant scientist to a lowly criminal.

Avril's eyes went wide with shock, "Oh, shit! No way..."

"Dr. Schroeder?" I asked with my own quiet gasp of surprise as the guards marched him up to us.

Schroeder regarded the squadron with a calm clinical look and nodded quietly. He slowly fixed his eyes on me and adjusted the glasses on his nose, "Hello Three Strikes. It's been a while, hasn't it?"


	4. Stormchasers

_**Tyler Island Air Base, Usea**_  
_**September 17, 2020**_

By this time, the events of the day all seemed to blur together, from the battle at Sierraplata to the destruction of the Harbinger prototype and now the reunion of another old face from the Lighthouse War. Although I had little personal contact with the notorious Dr. Schroeder, his work and his actions had greatly affected many of us in the war. He had worked with Grunder Industries and collected data on Col. Mihaly Shilage. It had been that data which allowed the Eruseans to launch their war and menace all of us with their drone weapons. Although he was blamed by many for involvement in war crimes, he had been coerced to some degree by the late leader of the Erusean Radicals so I had to be fair with my thoughts. Schroeder had helped create the weapons that evil people used during the Lighthouse War, but I never got the impression that the doctor himself was a malicious person. Perhaps in some ways he had been a victim of circumstance... much in the same way I had been when I was blamed for the death of President Harling. By virtue of that, I was at least willing to listen to him, and that's what we did as Strider Squadron and Longcaster returned to one of the briefing rooms of the base to have an impromptu conference with Schroeder.

As we settled in, I continued watching Schroeder and curiously observed him. He was still a prisoner of the Osean government and only being pressed into service, but it didn't seem to perturb him either. Maybe he had made peace with his situation, or maybe that calm and clinical demeanor was the way he always was? Tabloid and Avril kept wary eyes on him having spent more time in the past with him so I decided to take my cues from them. At the head of the room, Longcaster cleared his throat as he stood with Schroeder and addressed us. "I'm sure all of you know who this man is, Striders. The last time we had the pleasure of meeting was at the end of the war on carrier OFS Admiral Andersen. Given the unusual circumstances, the Osean authorities believed that Dr. Schroeder here could be of some help to us... in hopes he may atone for some of his crimes."

Schroeder winced slightly before giving a nod and looking to the squadron, "As the Major said... I am at your service. He's told me you were successful in destroying one of the two prototypes."

"Yeah. That's right Doc... and we're hoping you didn't build any other secret Belkan toys that we have to destroy in the future," Count muttered in quiet contempt.

"I did not build Harbinger," Schroeder corrected him calmly, "Before I was assigned to the drone research program, I spent only a couple months assisting Dr. Eisner in his project."

Jaeger crossed his arms and wore a pensive look before speaking, "Then you know this weapon's capabilities. Is Harbinger really going to be able to create a massive hurricane?"

"In theory... yes," Schroeder nodded slowly, "Two prototypes were constructed with slightly different capabilities. One was designed to affect weather in a more localized area while the other was created to alter greater regional weather patterns. There hadn't been a whole lot of testing on these devices when I worked on the program, but it sounds like you destroyed the smaller of the two devices."

Tabloid frowned to himself as he thought things over in his mind, "Well... if this other Harbinger is being carried on this hijacked cruiser, then we've got to stop it before it gets too close to the continent. If this Bouchere guy is going to be able to harness the power of hurricanes, then who knows how much damage and death he'll be able to cause to Usea. That weather will ground planes and threaten to topple Princess Rosa's government if it wipes out Farbanti."

Huxian stirred in her seat and pounded her fist impatiently, "All well and good Tabloid, but the real question is how we're going to stop this thing."

I fixed my eyes on Schroeder and met his level gaze with one of my own, "Lin is right Doctor. We almost got cooked today by Harbinger. If we're going to take this second one down, we're going to need you to tell us everything... how it works and how we can counter its effects."

Schroeder furrowed his brow and began to pace quietly, "I don't know if I can give you a definitive answer, Captain Richter. Harbinger works by emitting highly charged ions in the atmosphere to affect clouds. The best I may able to do is to fashion some kind of fixture that will allow your aircraft to jam the device, or at the very least hinder it."

"So you're talking about some kind of specialized electronic countermeasure," Avril frowned, "How long is that going to take to fix up?"

The doctor balked a moment. "To outfit the whole squadron? I don't know... maybe two or three days?"

"You'll have one and a half tops," Longcaster corrected him, "If our radars are right, that storm is coming fast and will be set to hit Erusea in just a few days. We need to sink Bouchere's cruiser before it reaches the edge of the continent. Miss Mead? I'd like you to work with Mr. Schroeder and get as many done as you can."

Avril grimaced and kept up her hard look of scrutiny on Schroeder, "I've worked with you before to fix up a plane for Trigger on short notice. If we're going to do this, I'm going to need your best work on this one. I'm not sending my friends out there unprotected. You're going to help me reinforce Strider Squadron's planes if they're going to be flying into the teeth of a hurricane."

Schroeder kept his eyes on Avril for a long moment before nodding, "I understand."

"All right. Then it's settled," I said firmly, "Let's get to it. I want Strider Squadron to rest up tonight and prepare to sortie in two days. We have a lot to do if we're going to stop these terrorists."

"Righto Trigger. We'll be ready," Count answered as the meeting adjourned, "Not like we have much choice anyway, right?"

I honestly couldn't fault Count for being apprehensive about this whole situation. With the Erusean defense forces having been bruised at Sierraplata, it would now fall to the IUN to take the lead on this operation. We were being asked to fly into the eye of a storm and take out another super-weapon run amok. After some of the insane situations we had been through during the Lighthouse War, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised at this point. The thought of flying a boring routine patrol didn't seem so bad anymore. Now I just had to keep convincing the rest of the squadron (and myself) that this mission would be just like any other.

* * *

**_Farbanti City, Kingdom of Erusea_**  
**_September 18, 2020_**

It was shortly after midnight when the full reports began to come in about the battle at Sierraplata. Within one of the government buildings set aside for royal conferences, Princess Rosa sat with several of her generals in one of the plush offices disseminating the information coming in from the field. Rosa rubbed her tired eyes and gave a deflated sigh as she slumped in her seat. She was trying to keep up with the figures and papers being handed to her, at times pretending that she knew what she was looking at. For a civilian like her, she was struggling to figure out how to piece together the bigger picture from accounts of several different units in the battle, some with more embellishment in their accounts than others. As one of the staff officers passed her some papers with material losses and a casualty list of Erusean servicemen, Rosa cleared her throat and stood up, "Gentlemen... can someone please offer me a brief summary of what happened? The more concise, the better."

One of her Air Force generals by the name of Ricci sat up and nodded, "Yes, Princess. At approximately 0700 of the prior day, the joint allied forces engaged the ERA headed west toward the capital. The better part of the rebel convoy was destroyed but it was confirmed that they were carrying a prototype of the Harbinger weapon. The rebels used the weapon and caused significant damage to one of our armored cavalry units on the ground as well as the fighters of Crimson Squadron. The surviving pilots reported it to be like a giant lightning storm which was super-charged by the weapon."

Rosa nodded grimly, "And Harbinger?"

"It was destroyed your Highness... by the Osean pilots of Strider Squadron," Ricci answered.

"And did they take any casualties?"

Ricci shook his head, "As far as we know, they reported no losses. They had engaged a flight of rebel fighters who joined the fight late and chased them off, which is fortunate. Our ground forces were already in disarray and unable to meet an air attack."

Rosa smiled quietly to herself and nodded in satisfaction. Of course she could rely on Trigger and his squadron to swoop in and save the day as they had so many times before. "Then I suppose we'll have good news to report to the Parliament. That the revolutionaries have been stamped out?"

"Not entirely Your Highness..." Ricci said with a sour expression, "Farbanti is still under threat from the south... by a hurricane, one that's shaping up to be a very powerful one."

Rosa frowned in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

One of her other advisors, a female staff officer in the Air Force spoke up, "Your Highness... the Osean military has shared some intel with us and report that the leader of the ERA, Major Bouchere is on a stolen naval cruiser headed north from Chopinburg."

"All right," Rosa nodded, "Now that he's come out of hiding, let's regroup and strike the cruiser so that we can end this whole thing."

"I'm afraid it won't be that straightforward Princess," the female officer replied, "Bouchere's cruiser is carrying a second Harbinger weapon and they've begun to create a hurricane with it. We believe that the rebels mean to carry the storm north and hit Farbanti with it... and you."

Rosa remained fixed in place, staring in stunned silence, "How much time do we have?"

"A day or two perhaps before the edge of the storm reaches Usea," Ricci interjected, "Our forces are still trying to regroup and I've been told that the Oseans on Tyler Island will be better able to respond. There's talk that Three Strikes and his squadron will take the lead and that they're readying a counterattack."

Rosa stood silent as all eyes were now fixed on her, waiting for a response. She thought it over and while she hated the fact that Trigger and his friends were being thrust into danger again, she knew there wasn't much choice either. She hated asking them to risk themselves yet again for her kingdom, but she couldn't allow her own government to suffer a rogue terrorist's attack either. "Very well. We'll put our trust in Captain Richter and I'll ask you to trust him as much as I do."

Ricci looked to the other generals who were present before giving a reluctant nod, "In the mean time, I'd advise you and your government officials to evacuate the capital from the coming storm. It could be dangerous and..."

"No. I am not leaving here," Rosa said stubbornly. She took a moment to breathe and gather her thoughts before looking to the room with an unusually determined frown. As she did, she spoke in a more steely tone of voice, "I am not going to leave until all my subjects are evacuated to safety first."

"Your Highness... I have to protest. This is crazy," Ricci sputtered.

"Maybe so General, but if I am going to govern over this kingdom, I cannot show fear to my enemies or to my own people," Rosa explained, "Do you know what tomorrow is? September the 19th? It was the day Farbanti was attacked by the ISAF during the Contintal War. It was the day we were attacked again by Osea in the war last year. Our kingdom has suffered greatly and weathered many storms and tomorrow will not be any different. I will make sure Erusea remains whole and that starts with saving all the civilians of this city first."

The generals all sat in stunned silence at her words, unsure whether they were more shocked by her patriotic fervor or her altruism for her people. "Is that your will, Your Highness?"

Rosa sat down tiredly but gave a solemn nod, "Yes, General. Please see to my people now."

As her loyal military leaders adjourned their meeting for the night, Rosa sighed again and felt the weight of the kingdom on her shoulders. She was asking her Osean friends to help shoulder that burden and she wondered what they were doing. She knew she could not talk to Tom right now, so she decided she'd try something else. She decided that when she got home, she would catch up on replying to some emails.

* * *

_**Tyler Island Air Base, Usea**_  
_**September 19, 2020**_

Early the next morning, I suited up and made my way to the main hangars of the air base to look over my Raptor before launch. If I was being honest, that was my secondary motive. With Avril working on my plane, I knew I had nothing to worry about. Instead, I hoped the walk would help ease my nerves. I always felt like this before any big operation and even now, I wasn't immune to the worrying and second guessing one could do, especially when they were responsible for the safety of a whole squadron. As I entered the quiet hangars lugging my flight gear, I could feel some cool air wafting in through an open door and spotted a figure standing nearby with their back turned.

A red hue hung over the skies as the first traces of morning light began to crawl up from the darkness of the distant horizon. In that dim light I saw the figure was feminine and recognized it to be Avril as I approached. She had her back turned to me and didn't seem to acknowledge my presence as she kept her eyes fixed toward the heavens. I quietly padded over and came to join my friend in her quiet vigil. She glanced sideways a moment and offered a quiet nod before looking to the skies again. I crossed my arms thoughtfully and looked at the red line of light touching the cloudy air. "Checking the color of the skies? No deep dark blue today."

"No... it's a bad omen," Avril replied grimly, "The storm is coming. Red sky at morning, sailor take warning."

"You forget. I'm an airman, not a sailor," I said trying to offer a quip to lighten the mood, "And you know I like to live on the edge when I fly anyway."

Avril frowned toward me, "I'm serious Trigger and you should be too. This is a different kind of mission... one that could be more dangerous than you think. Facing down enemy warships and fighter planes is one thing, but Strider Squadron is meeting a force of nature. That's something you don't have nearly as much control over."

"I know you're worried about me, Count, and Tabloid..."

"You're damn right I am," Avril replied heatedly, "And even with Schroeder's help, I'm not sure it'll be enough. I was only able to equip enough ion jammers in three of your planes. I spent the rest of my time reinforcing your armor and flight systems to withstand heavy storm conditions."

I looked at her and in the light, I saw that Avril looked like hell. She had probably been working non-stop for the past day and a half and she looked dog tired. I tried to offer her a quiet reassuring smile, "Hopefully it won't come to that. The hurricane is getting large, but it hasn't fully formed either. If we hurry, we might be able to slip into the eye through a weaker band of rotating clouds."

"This is insane, you know that right?" Avril asked, "If you're going to slip in and destroy this Erusean warship in the eye of the storm, you'd better do it fast so you can get out in time."

"That's the plan anyway," I shrugged earning another skeptical frown from Avril. She shook her head with a sigh and looked back out toward the dim light in the skies.

We stood in companionable silence until the mechanic spoke again, "I guess I should let you know that Cossette wished us luck too. She emailed me earlier. She figured since she can't discuss things directly with you, she'd do the next best thing and have a chat with a fellow female civilian."

I gave her a faint smile as I glanced over, "Oh, really? I'm glad then. I hope she's evacuating the capital just in case."

Avril shook her head, "Nope. She said she's staying... that she had faith in you and your squadron to stop the rebels. She said that once she reformed the government, she wouldn't be a very good queen if she showed fear in the face of the enemy."

"You think she's wrong?" I asked noting the tone of Avril's voice.

She gave a snort and flashed me a small grin, "I told her that's great, but I still thing she's crazy for staying. As far as I can see, I think you two were made for each other. She can be just as much of a suicidal dumbass as you are."

Despite the dire situation ahead, I couldn't help but smile and laugh quietly at Avril's comment. By now, I heard the doors of the hangar open again from the base-side and saw the rest of Strider Squadron enter along with some ground crewmen. My teammates had also suited up and carried their flight gear, walking over toward me with looks of quiet resolve. Once they gathered around me, I gave a sigh, "All right Striders... everyone ready to save Erusea again?"

"We're more ready to watch your back and keep you out of trouble boss," Lanza offered.

"When I signed up for the Air Force, I did say I was looking forward to new experiences," Huxian shrugged in agreement, "I guess flying into a hurricane counts as one."

"An experience I can certainly tell my son about," Jaeger added with a wink.

Count crossed his arms and sighed, "After everything we've done for them, I just hope I can get Princess Rosa to reconsider my request for a noble title."

"All right then, time to get to work Sir Count," Tabloid retorted as he elbowed his friend and gave him a little push toward his parked Raptor.

I shook my head to myself as the squadron broke our huddle and headed to their planes. Right now, there was work to be done and the pressure would be on so levity would be at a premium. As I headed toward my own fighter parked nearby, I decided I'd take whatever laughs I could find and enjoy them while I could. Something told me we were going to need it.


	5. Horizon Guard

_**Spring Sea**_  
_**September 19, 2020 **_

After launching from our base on Tyler Island, Strider Squadron cruised southwest over the open waters of the Spring Sea to intercept the enemy cruiser J- and the massive hurricane that was being formed around it. Two hours into the flight, we could see the skies gradually get darker while the volatile waters of the ocean churned. Just like at Sierraplata, the winds picked up and rocked our planes as we neared the massive stormfront of swirling clouds. I gripped my joystick and did a quick check of my instruments to try and distract myself from the growing sense of dread that was clawing at my heart. Right now, it was best to try and stay focused. That's what major Wiseman would have done were he still here leading the LRSSG. I opened up the comm line and spoke, "Strider 1 to all allied aircraft. Radios."

"Strider 2," Count replied followed by the others in turn.

"Roger lead, Strider 3 here. 4, loud and clear. 5, here boss. 6, I'm with you Trigger."

I nodded grimly as I watched the hurricane front approaching like some colossal sea monster that was preparing to eat us all, "Longcaster? Are you picking up anything?"

On the other end of the comm line, I could hear the sound of quiet munching making me wonder what our AWACS was nibbling on this time. Longcaster cleared his throat in reply, "Err, sorry. I just needed to snack on something to calm the nerves. Long range satellite cans are now showing returns on the cruiser _Jörmungandr_. It looks like Bouchere is hiding in the calm eye of the storm. I'm sending you a new data feed on your radars now. That will be your target."

All of us could now see a red blip showing the approximate location of the rebel ship hiding within the storm as it sailed north. Longcaster continued, "Strider Squadron, be advised you are now entering the outer edge of the storm front. Judging by the cloud rotation, you will have a clear avenue of entry into the storm before it completely closes up around the center. Maintain course heading and current speed and you should reach the right cloud bands on your arrival.

"Roger that Longcaster. Commencing Operation Horizon Guard now," I answered as our squadron raced forward to make it to the nav point. We didn't have a large window of time so we had to make every second of our approach count. I did a quick inventory of my weapons and armed them in case we ran into any trouble. Aside from our standard heat-seeker missiles, and the ion jammer that had been installed in the bottom hatch of my Raptor, I had Avril re-equip my pulse lasers. Some of my squadmates had opted for anti-ship weapons while a few others prepared for any anti-air threats. I figured the lasers would be a good compromise between the two.

By now, the wind picked up and our fighters were pelted by a few sheets of light rain. Tabloid spoke up and tried to take the edge off with a quiet quip, "Hmm... I don't think Mother Nature realized I already showered this morning."

"Think of it like our Raptors getting a power wash," Lanza added in a subdued chuckle, "We'll save Avril some work when we get back."

"Wait! Hold up a second," Huxian said setting everyone on edge, "I think I see something out there!"

We all knew Lin had sharp eyes and an uncanny danger sense so we all decided to shut up and listen before I prompted her, "Lin?"

"From eight-o-clock... coming from the east," Huxian squinted as she watched the skies, "I see incoming aircraft. They look like Typhoons!"

Her assessment was immediately confirmed as Longcaster radioed us, "Strider Squadron, be advised. We've detected a flight of enemy bandits moving to intercept you."

"Damn... the snakes are back," Count growled, "We don't have time for a rematch right now!"

As the fast moving fighters of the Erusean rebel forces bore down on us, I could see that Lin was right. They were the red colored Typhoons of Cobra Squadron and they had returned for vengeance. Over our comms, I heard a transmission come in and the voice was the rebel squadron's leader, Captain Volpe. "That's far enough Oseans. We're not going to let you interfere."

"You forget who you're dealing with Volpe," I answered, "If your boss Major Bouchere doesn't stand down and surrender, he'll meet the same fate as Moretti did."

Volpe scoffed, "He may have failed, but it's our duty to carry on and continue the revolution."

"Can't you see? The revolution is over you clown," Count retorted, "We don't have to fight here."

"No. We do," the rebel commander insisted, "We do not recognize Princess D'Elise as our leader. As long as that pretender sits on the throne, we won't stop fighting."

Huxian gave a growl of frustration as the Typhoons neared, "This isn't the way to make your point! Are you rebels really willing to commit mass murder and terrorism over this?"

"We have to. If we want change to happen our way, we must make it happen by any means necessary," Volpe confirmed.

"So much for trying to reason with a political radical," Jaeger sighed as our warning sensors and missile alerts all blared to life.

I throttled up and pulled my Raptor into a sharp banking turn to meet the enemy flight, "All right Volpe. Have it your way. Striders, you are clear to engage and destroy."

Our fighters and theirs swooped by each other at high speed sparking an aerial melee at the edge of the hurricane. It was not an understatement to say that the opening moments of the skirmish were chaotic as Raptors and Typhoons raced past each other, maneuvering against one another through high speed winds and blinding sprays of rain. I gave chase to one of the Cobras and tried to acquire a missile lock as we rolled and corkscrewed through turbulent the air. From the comm, I could hear Longcaster giving our squadron another dire warning, "Remember Striders, you have to be careful not to get shot down. With this wind and rain, mounting any kind SAR will be near impossible."

"No pressure, right?" Huxian mumbled as she criss-crossed with Tabloid and tried to shake off an enemy fighter, "Strider 6, I'm breaking left. Cover me."

She veered left and the enemy took the bait as he continued to follow her. Tabloid kept his eyes on Huxian's plane as he made a sharp high-g turn of his own and oriented himself to go on the offensive. Meanwhile, Huxian bobbed and rolled though the storm keeping her enemy occupied. She could hear her warning siren already going off as the Cobra launched a heat-seeking missile after her. She juked right and scattered the missile with some chaff and flares before calling out, "Any time now Tabloid."

"Just a moment longer," Tabloid answered calmly as he lined up his shot and got a perfect angle. "Got em!"

A missile streaked off the wing of Strider 6 and curved through the air at a perfect angle to blast the enemy Typhoon from the skies. Huxian gave a nod as she doubled back around, "Good kill Tabloid. Splash one."

Meanwhile, Jaeger and Lanza were busy jockeying against their own enemies while fighting the powerful winds outside. As they skirmished, one of the Typhoons made an abrupt turn and disappeared into some of the gray clouds causing Lanza to lose sight of his target. He turned his head and scanned the area, trying desperately to find his enemy "Damn! Where did he go?"

It wasn't until it was too late that Jaeger spotted the Cobra pop back out of the clouds and fire a missile in an ambush, "Strider 5! Missile! Evade!"

Lanza cursed and thought his heart would nearly fly through his chest as he felt a violent jolt from the left rear of his fighter. The missile had been fired from short range but miraculously failed to fully detonate. The projectile clipped him in a glancing blow before the missile spiraled down a few hundred feet before exploding. Strider 5 fought to keep his Raptor steady, "I'm hit. Minor damage to my wing... stabilizer is iffy, but I think I can still fly."

"I'm coming Lanza," Jaeger answered as he swooped in to come to his comrade's aid. The older veteran pilot charged head on and sprayed a hail of gunfire at the incoming Typhoon who was chasing Lanza. A few rounds found their mark and must have ignited a fuel tank causing the offending Cobra to explode in a fireball. As Jaeger blew by, he threw off the other Cobra who was tailing him with a stall maneuver by putting his Raptor in a sudden flat spin. The enemy Typhoon veered aside in confusion over which direction the Raptor was headed, only helping Jaeger line up his missile shot. "Strider 3, Fox 2."

The Cobra didn't know what hit it as the missile struck the Cobra's underbelly and sent the Erusean rebel fighter tumbling from the skies. Lanza gave a deep sigh of grateful relief, "Thanks Jaeger. Remind me to never disrespect my elders again."

On the opposite end of the battlefield, Count and I were locked in our own duels with the the two remaining ERA Typhoons. I fired a few pulse laser bursts and the bolts of blue plasma nearly hit Captain Volpe as he rolled clear, "We've got some unfinished business here Cobra Commander."

Volpe ignored the taunt with a scoff, "You're right Three Strikes. This will be your last battle."

"Yeah... yeah... we've heard a lot of tough talk," Count cut in as he maneuvered against Volpe's wingman, "Can't say we've been really impressed."

Strider 2 waited patiently as his enemy angled in and began to pursue before pulling a counter maneuver. Count cut his speed and borrowed a page from my book, letting his enemy overshoot him as Count pulled a tight aileron roll over his enemy. The shocked Cobra Squadron pilot barely had a moment to register what happened before Count let loose a pair of missiles which blew the Typhoon's wings clean off. The wingless enemy fighter continued to spin in a death spiral before it dropped away completely. "Scratch one more bandit!"

To my surprise, Volpe charged me and fired a pair of missiles causing me to change speed and fight through the wind to avoid them in a post stall turn. As the missiles closed, I scattered them with some chaff before finishing my turn and going after my enemy.

"You okay there Trigger?" I heard Count call out.

"Roger. Stand by Strider 2. Volpe is mine," I answered while turning up the throttle again. I tailed Volpe and followed his rolling maneuvers in the air, keeping his fighter plane fixed in my sights before the targeting brackets went red. He knew that he was now alone and that I had a target lock on him yet he still insisted on fighting this pointless battle. As he weaved about the dark clouds and tried to evade me, Volpe growled, "You're taunting me now Captain Richter. Why don't you just fire your missiles already?"

"Because I don't want to have to kill you," I insisted, "You're a good pilot. You could put that skill to better use instead of for the ERA."

"Or I could use it to become the one who took down the infamous Three Strikes." the Erusean pilot said as he pulled a surprise move. Using all the headwind we were flying into, Volpe tipped his nose up and reared back in the cobra maneuver using the extra push of the wind to push him further as I overshot him. As he leveled off, he gave a triumphant grin as he tried to lock on with his missiles. "It's over for you Osean."

Again I was having an eerie sense of deja vu. I had seen this happen at Yinshi once before, only the roles had been reversed this time. I remembered how my ex comrade Champ had tried to take on Col. Mihaly Shilage by himself, by pulling the same Pugachev maneuver in a show of hubris, and I remembered how he died... how Mihaly had blown him clean out of the skies. With no other option, it seemed I had to deliver the same sentence to this brash younger pilot.

No sooner had Volpe steadied his wings and took aim, I punched my flight controls and pulled my Raptor into a tight aerial somersault leaving wind contrails streaking off my wings. Volpe could only sit, staring in silent shock as my Raptor began to sail over him. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl as his head turned and followed the arc of my Raptor's aerial backflip before I reached the highest point of the countermove and pointed my nose down on him. Just as Mihaly had performed this lethal Kulbit, I did the same as my pulse lasers flared to life and opened fire.

In a flash, time seemed to crash back into its furious breakneck pace as the super-heated laser bolts punched through the hull of the rebel Typhoon and ignited its innards. I could hear Volpe try to gasp something out before his radio was cut and his jet fighter exploded into a cloud of fiery steel and shrapnel. I blew past the wreckage and leveled off, watching the immolated remains of Cobra Leader spiral to its death. As the flaming remnants of Volpe's fighter disappeared into the stormy waters below, I took a moment to breathe and center myself after that skirmish. Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to reflect as the voice of our AWACS spoke up again.

"Strider 1, the rotation of the storm has already begun to close up your path to the eyewall. I'm sending you an updated flight path and approach vector. You'll still have an avenue of entry but it won't be easy," Longcaster said, "I can't say how long it will last if you plan to make your escape through it."

"Understood Longcaster," I replied with a grim tone as the rest of my squadron formed up at my wings and followed close. Strider Squadron continued to cruise around the edge of the dark storm front following the rotation of the menacing clouds.

Huxian radioed in, "All right Trigger, are we doing this?"

"Negative Strider 3. You, Jaeger, and Lanza are to stand by and wait here," I answered.

I could tell by the tone of Jaeger's voice he was already disapproving of the plan, "Strider Leader, this isn't like the Space Elevator. You can't do this all alone."

"I'm not planning to," I replied, "Count? Tabloid? You're with me."

"Leave it to the old expendable Spare Squadron, huh?" Count quipped darkly.

Huxian gave a mild huff of protest, "You can't be serious about this, Trigger."

"I'm sorry Lin, but Lanza's fighter is damaged and he might need help returning home. Besides, Count, Tabloid, and my fighters are the only ones equipped with the ion jammers that can stop Harbinger. Jaeger? You're in charge until we return."

Huxian sighed in resignation, "All right. No reckless heroics this time. You got it, Count?"

"Righto," he answered as our three Raptors peeled off from the rest of the squadron and made our final approach toward the hurricane front.

As we throttled up to full speed and plunged into the storm headfirst, I gave a quiet gulp, "Aright... here goes nothing."

* * *

Strong winds and blinding rain lashed at our three Raptors as we throttled forward at full power and pushed into the very heart of the storm around us. Every so often, I could feel powerful jolts rattle the aircraft as the swirling winds outside violently buffeted our fighters. I held the controls of my plane steady and used all my concentration to fight and keep the Raptor steady in the air. Avril had been right. When compared to such a sheer force of nature, it was easy to realize just how small you were and how little control you really had. Even as my Raptor plowed ahead through the churning clouds of the tempest, I felt as if I was on a roller coaster, rising up and down while pitching from side to side.

I could hear the hull plates rattling and I worried that my missiles or secondary weapon systems would be torn straight from my wings but saw no alarms or signs of damage yet from my instruments. I could spot my two wingmen on my radar monitor but maintaining visual contact was almost an exercise in futility. The dark blinding clouds obscured my vision and made it difficult at times to distinguish which direction was up or down relative to the perceived horizon.

I thought about radioing my wingmen, but then I heard Tabloid try to say something followed by a response from Count, only their voices were heavily garbled and distorted from the hurricane's interference. If Longcaster was trying to reach us, I doubted he'd be having much luck either. Several long tense minutes passed before my Raptor was jolted a few more times by turbulence and then the clouds began to thin out. My canopy was still drying out so my vision at the moment was still useless, "This is Strider Leader. All fighters report in."

"We're still here Trigger," Tabloid answered before my canopy cleared and I could see my two friends again. The air had calmed down and I could see we had finally made it through the eyewall into the center of this storm. It looked to be several miles wide with towering clouds ringed around us in a surreal looking column of tranquility. Having braved darkness, wind, and rain, we could now see the blue skies above and the light of the sun shining down in a divine pillar. As the three of us took a moment to stare in wonder at the sight, I could hear Count give a low whistle, "Well shit... I can't believe we actually made it."

"Are you seeing this?" Tabloid grinned in almost giddy relief.

"Yeah... that's something," Count chuckled borrowing a catch phrase from Huxian.

My eyes drifted downward and my mind went back to the mission, "All right, stay sharp Striders. We've still got a job to do."

My two friends formed up on my wings and we descended closer to sea level before we finally spotted our target. Just as Longcaster had said, the Erusean cruiser _Jörmungandr_ was sailing along directing this massive storm northward. As we got into weapons range, the _Jörmungandr_ must have detected us too as our warning sensors began to blare. I figured I might as well let them know who they were dealing with, "Attention E.R.A. vessel. This is Captain Richter of Osea's 124th Fighter Squadron. You are in violation of international law and we demand you stand down and surrender your ship."

There was a long pause before I heard a man's voice, "This is Major Bouchere of the Erusean Revolutionary Army. I'm afraid I can't comply Captain Richter. Whether you like it or not, we are bound for Farbanti and we are going to stop Princess Rosa's government no matter the cost."

"Your forces have been destroyed and Cobra Squadron is gone," I insisted, "This is your last chance Major. If you resist, we will use force."

Bouchere laughed, "You're a brave man Three Strikes, and so are your pilots. I have no idea how you managed to get through Volpe and the rest of this hurricane, but you don't have any hope of stopping me now."

"Geez, are all of Erusea's Radical military officers unhinged megalomaniacs?" Tabloid asked in bemusement.

"I think there's your answer," I answered with an edge in my voice as I saw a pair of anti-air missiles being launched at us from the cruiser. The three of us changed direction and evaded the missiles as they went wide and trailed away into the storm clouds.

Count came up alongside me and began to switch his weapons, " All right... I've had just about enough of this. Hey Trigger, you remember Captain Torres and the _Alicorn_?"

"I was thinking the exact same thing," I said with a grin as we circled around and prepared to set up our attack run, "Time for us to give Bouchere the same treatment and ruin this guy's bed sheets too." *

* * *

***Just a fun little reference/meme to the new DLC mission that dropped recently. The fact this story's villain would also be on a warship was purely coincidental so I figured, why not? ;) **


	6. Fire and Rain

**Hurricane Eye, Spring Sea  
September 19, 2020**

The light of the sun streamed from the clear skies above as our three fighters bore down on the rogue Erusean warship. Tabloid lined up his shot and armed his missiles, "Stay sharp. That thing might launch more missiles."

To our horror, we watched as the _Jörmungandr_ launched a few more projectiles into the air which then deployed their own wings before speeding toward us. Count's eyes went wide with surprise, "Uh, those don't look like missiles! Those are ship-based UAV drones!"

"Shit! Break off the attack!" I growled as the three of us abruptly aborted our attack and veered away from the drones' sudden counter charge. Having been momentarily scattered and disorganized, we braced ourselves as the _Jörmungandr_ began to unload streams fire from their AA guns as well as exploding shells.

"Damn! It's getting a little hot out here!" Tabloid shouted in dismay as our three Raptors continued to evade the drones and weave through the thick clouds of AA fire. The _Jörmungandr_ put up another volley of shells with filled the skies with thunder and flak. I gasped as my fighter took a glancing hit from the flak and it threw me off balance only leaving me a couple seconds to roll clear of an incoming drone.

"Trigger! Are you okay?" Count called out before he too was rocked by a cloud of shrapnel.

I leveled off and came about surveying the heated battlefield before noting the minor hull damage I took, "Just a little scratch. If the AA guns don't kill me, then Avril might."

"I don't know about you, but I think we've gotta try and end this quick," Tabloid agreed while evading another drone with a high-g turn, "We don't have a lot of room to maneuver while we're caught within this vortex."

"You're right," I said switching to my missiles, "Count! Tabloid! Go after the _Jörmungandr_ and take it down. I'll cover you and keep these drones off your backs."

My two wingmen peeled off and angled in to attack once more answering in turn, "Righto!" "Wilco!"

"As for the rest of you..." I said turning back to face the three UAVs, "I've seen a whole lot scarier drones."

I throttled up and split their formation before pulling a post stall turn to get an angle on one. My Raptor hung in the air and followed its dive as we corkscrewed in the air. Compared to the advanced Hugin and Munin drones I had faced at the Lighthouse, these UAVs were pigeons by comparison. We hung in the air in a slow roll before the targeting brackets went red and I pulled the trigger. The heat-seeking missile streaked off my wing and followed the arc of the drone before colliding in a direct hit with its engines. The UAV with a mangled tail sputtered out before spiraling to its death in the waters below.

I could already hear my cockpit warning sirens going off again as the remaining two drones angled in and began to harry me with some fire from their guns. I rolled right to evade and skimmed around the edge of the vortex trying to make their angle of approach more difficult before I pulled a tight turn and accelerating off the hurricane's eyewall. Although the drones were fairly light and agile, my Raptor still had more thrust and power so I was going to use that to my advantage by putting some extra distance between us.

As I raced back toward the very center of the hurricane's eye, I looked over my shoulder and saw the two drones giving chase. They were exactly where I wanted them as I changed speed and altitude to pull a fast Immelmann turn. My Raptor rolled over and now faced the incoming drones head-on, giving my sensors just enough time to lock on to both of them at once. As we sped forward in a midair joust, I fired two more missiles which struck the UAVs head-on and blasted them to pieces. I gave a loud cheer as I turned my Raptor and angled between the two balls of fire as they streaked past me before I rolled clear to level out. "All right! Strike three, you're out!"

Meanwhile closer to the surface, Count and Tabloid flew in tandem and dodged the intercepting fire to get into rage. Just as they were about to launch their missiles, they noticed their targeting computers begin to get scrambled and confused. Count fired off a missile volley and pulled up quickly, "Shit! That thing's got an ECM too! Pull up Steve!"

Tabloid did the same and gave a growl of frustration as some of their missiles went wide and splashed harmlessly into the ocean while the _Jörmungandr's_ point defense guns shot the remaining projectiles out of the air. Having regained air superiority, the three of us Oseans regrouped and circled high like patient birds of prey waiting for another chance to go in for the kill. Count gritted his teeth, "Bad news Trigger. That _Jörmungandr_ is going to be a tough nut to crack. That thing can scramble our targeting systems too. The interference is probably coming from the Harbinger device and it's acting like an ECM."

"Then let's fight fire with fire," Tabloid suggested, "Avril did give us these ion scramblers too."

"Sounds like a plan," I nodded, "Striders 2 and 6, attack with me. Activate your ECMS while I plow the way. When I give the word, we hit that thing with all the missiles we can throw at it."

"Roger that Trigger," Count answered before we heard a transmission come in from Major Bouchere below. He was laughing.

"What's wrong Three Strikes? Have you given up? Don't tell me the famed Strider Squadron has met its match? That it's too scared to attack?"

I switched back to my pulse lasers and led the way in a new diving attack, "Arrogance has killed many a tyrant, Major. It ended Moretti and your revolution will be no different."

Our three Raptors plunged forward in a high speed dive as we weathered another barrage of fire from the flak and the AA guns. Moments later, my wingmen activated their jammers and the effects of the Harbinger suddenly began to be neutralized. I could see my own targeting systems work again as I lined up a bead and began to fire a furious barrage of laser bolts into the _Jörmungandr._ From the radio, I could hear some surprised cries of the Erusean crew as the energy bolts destroyed a few of their point defenses and caused some fire on the decks.

"Now's our chance Striders! Hit em with everything you've got!"

Count, Tabloid, and I switched to our missiles and let loose three pairs of missiles which struck the _Jörmungandr_ in direct hits one after the other. As our three Raptors swooped by low and cleared the top of the cruiser, we split off in three directions as several tall blossoms of fire erupted from the cruiser. While we angled back around, we saw all resistance cease from the fiery husk of the dying warship. The _Jörmungandr_ somehow managed to stay afloat and limp along, but it was clearly taking on water and would sink in a matter of minutes. I could hear a static filled transmission come in over our short wave and recognize it as Bouchere. He was panting and desperate, "Damn you Oseans! You lapdogs to Princess Rosa... do you realize what you've done?"

"Yeah... we just saved Farbanti from a crazed terrorist," Count jeered back in reply.

Tabloid's tone was a bit more subdued, "I can understand wanting change and opposing the policies of your government... but this is not the way."

"Your revolution dies here Bouchere," I added in solemn agreement, "It's over."

What I heard next chilled my blood a little as Bouchere began to laugh in a slightly unhinged delirium, "You're wrong Captain Richter. It may be the end of me... but the revolution will continue one way or another. That, I can promise you."

"Then I promise we'll be there to put it down too," I answered before another explosion rocked the _Jörmungandr._ Bouchere's comm line cut out and the warship finally began to sink beneath the waves to its watery grave. Count shook his head and gave a sigh.

"Hmm... couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. He made his bed, now he's gotta lie in it... dirty sheets and all."

"Which leaves one nagging problem," Tabloid added in a tired voice, "The _Jörmungandr_ is destroyed, but how are we going to get out of here?"

As the three of us circled around the inner eye wall, we took a minute to try and figure out what our next move was. Tabloid craned his neck around looking for an exit before giving a discouraged sigh, "Well gents... I'm stumped. What are we going to do? Now that the eye wall has completely closed up, we can't just try to fly back out."

"I hate to say it, but Tabloid is right," Count said in dour agreement, "We can't ride out through that storm again... not in the shape our battered fighters are in."

Both of my wingmen had fair points and I furiously worked my brain for some other ideas. Even if we were relatively safe here within the calm eye of the hurricane, we couldn't circle indefinitely. We'd run out of fuel and crash into the ocean waters. Even if we ejected, it would be a death sentence as we'd be buried in the stormy waters that would certainly follow. Maybe it was the angle I was flying at, but I caught a brighter glint of sunlight off the window of my canopy which pulled my eyes upward. As I followed the rays of the sun, an idea suddenly began to dawn on me. Granted, it wasn't the safest idea either... but it was something.

"Guys? I think I have an idea," I said over the comm, "There may actually be light at the end of the tunnel here."

"Huh? What are you talking about, Trigger?" Count asked with a hint of incredulity in his voice.

A broad smile began to form on my lips, "I'm suggesting we tunnel our way out of here... not from below, but above."

Tabloid balked a moment, "Hold on a second... you're not seriously proposing what I think you are, are you?"

"By flying out of one of the biggest tunnels on the planet?" I confirmed, "Yes."

"You're insane Trigger," Count said do me in a deadpan voice, "You know that, right?"

I chuckled quietly, "Hasn't stopped you guys from flying with me before. We just have to be daredevils one more time."

"Aright Tom, so how do we play this?" Tabloid asked, "Those clouds are high... probably near 50,000 feet. If we make a direct climb to get up there, we might stall out."

I nodded, "It'll be close, but we can probably clear it if we try to push for our max altitude. We'll gradually spiral up and make a break for it near the cloud tops."

I could hear Count start to laugh, "Longcaster would definitely not approve of this plan. Let's do it!"

The three of us throttled up and tried to gather speed as we looped around and ascended along the inner eye wall. I watched the altimeter rise as we climbed higher through this massive narrow tunnel, stretching for the sunlight which streamed in from the bright blue skies above. As we continued to power our way upward, I could feel my ears pop again while the noise became a little muffled... as if I had cotton in my ears. "Standby for final ascent."

I was feeling a little nervous. Although the Raptor was a powerful and advanced jet fighter, even it had its limits. We were nearing the flight ceiling of our aircraft and even if we cleared the top of this storm front, we didn't know how much turbulence or unstable air we'd come across. Right now, we had come this far so we had to risk it. In a way, it was fitting for the three of us pilots from the former Spare Squadron. We were used to suicidal missions and learned to come to a sort of odd acceptance with the possibility of death. If we were going to go out, at least we were going to go big and do it on our own terms. I gave a nod and began to punch the thrusters all the way, "All right boys, this is it. I'll see you over the top."

"Count? You ready to stick with Trigger one more time?" Tabloid asked.

"Righto," my other wingman nodded as we accelerated and made an all out climb to clear the top of the storm.

I could feel the fighter rumble and shake as I pushed higher through some turbulence and finally see clear blue skies and sunlight above. My Raptor rattled again and seemed to hang in the air for a long minute making me wonder if I had completely stalled out and if I would go crashing back to my death in the vortex. With a final push of my engines, my battered Raptor leveled out and I found myself floating over the cloud tops of the hurricane. The cloud banks seemed to stretch on for miles around like a calm ocean of misty grays and whites. I could hear Tabloid and Count give exhilarated cheers as they also cleared the hurdle and joined me.

"Woohoo! That was bad-ass!" Count laughed before another call came in over the com lines. It was Longcaster and he sounded more animated than usual.

"I've got them! Striders 1, 2, and 6 are back on radar!"

I gave a laugh as we began to cruise back toward the edge of the storm, "Good to hear you too Longcaster. Mission accomplished. The _Jörmungandr_ is sunk and Harbinger has been destroyed."

I could hear the other Striders already chattering and letting go of relieved sighs. Even amid her laughter, even Huxian's sharp tongue was couched in relief, "I can't believe you damn fools pulled that off. You're insane Trigger... you know that?"

"That's what Count said too," I smiled, "Now you two are even thinking alike. Cute."

The other Striders laughed at my gentle teasing of her before Jaeger spoke up, "So it's finally over, huh? The E.R.A. is finally wiped out?"

"As far as we know," Tabloid answered, "Along with one more super weapon. If Osea is smart they're not going to try building something like this again."

"For the time being, it looks like Farbanti will be okay," Longcaster said, "Without Harbinger active, the storm should begin to weaken and stray off course."

My attention shifted to my other wingmates as we moved to rendezvous with them several miles away, "That is good news. Lanza? You doing okay over there?"

"I'm with you Trigger. I can still fly home."

Count chuckled, "Well it's gonna be a long flight back to Tyler Island and I'm kinda hungry now. You still wouldn't happen to have some of those sausage rolls on hand, would you Longcaster?"

"Of course!" our AWACS answered.

"I think we could all use one after this mission," I agreed with a smile.

"Oh... hmm... look at that," Longacaster said sounding like he was shuffling some things around, "Seems there's only one left. I'd better take care of that for you... just so it doesn't go to waste, you know?"

I could visualize Count shaking his head as he gave an exasperated sigh, "Oh wow... that's cold, Longcaster. I thought we were cool."

"Come on Striders," I laughed gently as I saw the rest of my squadron move toward our position, "Let's see if we can't find a pizza lying around when we get back to base. I think it's time to go home."

* * *

**_Erusean Parliament Building, Farbanti City_**  
**_September 19, 2020_**

Night had already fallen over the capital of Erusea and the streets were quiet as many civilians who lived in the southern and western ends of the city had been relocated to safety. The edge of the hurricane was just starting to reach Farbanti, but it now looked to be losing strength. With luck, it would not be nearly as severe by the time it reached the northern edge of the Usean continent. A light steady rain had begun to fall and Princess Rosa listened to the evening shower as she sat at her desk in one of the offices of the government building. A hot cup of tea and some biscuits sat on a plate nearby but the princess didn't seem too interested in taking a break for any snack at the moment. True to her word, she had refused to evacuate until all her subjects in the city were taken to safety first. She sat in the quiet office signing off on documents and doing some paperwork when she heard the door knock. She looked up and set down her pen, "Come in."

The door opened and she saw two of her ministers enter, weaving past the bodyguards who stood at their posts outside. They both stopped to give small respectful bows with their heads before the one named Soult spoke, "Your Highness... we have some good news to report."

Rosa looked to them quietly and nodded as he continued, "We've just received word from the Osean military. Their fighter squadron from Tyler Island has succeeded in destroying the rebel warship and the last Harbinger weapon."

Rosa sat back in her seat and breathed a long sigh of relief feeling her heart skip a few beats with excitement and giddiness. Still, she did her best to maintain her royal composure, "Yes. That is good news. What about the Osean pilots?"

"All of them are safe," the other minister reported, "It was the squadron being led by Three Strikes... er, I mean Captain Richter."

Rosa couldn't help but give away a smile, "I... thank you. I'm glad to hear that. I assume if Bouchere is dead, then so is his movement?"

"It would seem that at least for now, the ERA rebels have been completely wiped out," Soult said, "We can't say that with complete certainty, but it looks like the threat of the rebels is over."

"And the storm?"

The second minister handed her a folder with some papers, "With Harbinger destroyed, it looks like the hurricane is losing strength and will be downgraded to a severe storm by the time it reaches here. There have already been major evacuation efforts in the city as a precaution, per your orders."

Rosa nodded quietly and tried to process everything that she was hearing. She was so used to being in a state of crisis mode that she was still waiting to hear the bad news. She couldn't help but feel like it was some kind of setup or trap... but for once, it seemed that everything would be okay, and that was due in large part to her Osean friends that she had made during the war. She folded her hands and thought quietly prompting her ministers to exchange a questioning look, "Your Highness? What would you have us do now?"

Rosa sat up and took a deep breath to focus her mind, "Once this storm has passed, I would like to call another meeting of Parliament and its leaders so that we can discuss the formation of the government again. Have the military prepare a report laying out what's happened so that I may present it to Mr. Goulard. I upheld my part of the bargain and I expect him to honor his part too."

"Very good, Your Highness," her ministers said with a bow, "And what about you? What are you going to do?"

Rosa looked to them and graced them with a faint smile, "I'm going to be making some travel plans in the near future. There are people I need to meet with... friends I need to visit, and someone else I need to thank personally."

* * *

**A/N:**  
**I'll be wrapping up this short story so stand by and hold your fire if you want. We have one more chapter to go! **


	7. Blue Skies

_**Tyler Island Air Base, Usea**_  
_**September 25, 2020**_

It had been nearly a week since Strider Squadron's harrowing flight into a hurricane and the destruction of the Harbinger weapon. With the Erusean rebels having been effectively crushed and all of our allies' safe return home, all that was left was to ride out the rest of the storm. By the time the hurricane had reached Tyler Island and the edge of the Usean continent, the storm had grown weaker and reduced in size without the effects of Harbinger to fuel it. Despite a few days of bad weather, the hurricane passed and things had begun to settle down once more. I had busied myself with helping Avril and the ground crews do some work on our Raptors as the fighters had all taken a bit of a beating from the elements and the recent combat.

On that particular evening, I sat in my quarters typing on my laptop when I heard a knock at the door. I put the finishing touches on my work and glanced up from my desk, "It's open. Come in."

The door opened and I was surprised to see both Huxian and Tabloid enter. Tabloid ambled over and gave a curious tilt of his head, "Hey Trigger, what are you up to tonight?"

"Oh, well... I was just finishing writing my cousin and letting her know that I was okay," I said closing my laptop, "Even if she's also OADF, I still can't say too much about the recent op until military intelligence is done with their work."

"Well don't hold your breath about it being released any time soon. Knowing the spooks, that might take a while," Huxian sighed as she plopped down to sit on my bed, "Anyway... we came to see what you were up to tonight. Some of us from the squadron were going to go to movie night at the officer's club and catch a double feature."

Tabloid shrugged, "I heard they're screening some romance drama for the women called 'The Journal', but if you're willing to sit though that they'll be playing the new Avengers movie afterward featuring Captain Osea."

"I'm guessing Avril and Count have been dragooned into it?" I asked.

Huxian gave a sly grin and crossed her arms, "What do you say Trigger, you in?"

"I appreciate the offer Lin, but I might come late. I've still got some things to take care of tonight," I explained apologetically.

Tabloid crossed his arms with a gentle laugh, "Oh? Hot date tonight? What's her name?"

"You might know her. She's one of the subjects of her royal majesty the Scrap Queen" I snorted as I got up to gather some things, "Her name is F-22 Raptor. After those stunts we pulled in the hurricane, I might have pushed my engines a bit too hard again. Avril was kind of upset with me so I offered to stay behind and do some more repair work so that she could go see the movies tonight."

"Smart move," Huxian laughed, "I don't blame you for wanting to avoid her wrath."

"Hmm, I think we need to stop making friends with so many aggressive girls," Tabloid sighed in a teasing way.

"Oh, you have no idea," Huxian replied with a small huff as she slugged him in the arm and got up again. She headed toward the door and gave a wave, "Well Tom, whatever you decide to do, we'll leave a seat open for you. Catch ya later!"

"Give Ms. Raptor my regards," Tabloid smiled as he walked out the door too, "Have fun."

I said goodbye to my two friends before leaving my quarters dressed in a work jumpsuit. I stepped out into the cool evening air and walked across the grounds of the base until I reached the hangars where Strider Squadron's fighters were housed. upon entering the hangars, I found the place was virtually empty save for the guards outside. Everyone else must have been at the movies or taking the night off. In a way, that was fine by me. After everything that had happened recently, I just wanted some peace and quiet along with a chance to decompress.

I headed over toward my Raptor and ambled by one of its wings. It looked like Avril had already done some work on it though some of the hull damage from the AA fire remained, meaning I'd have to work on patching that up. Even as I pondered where I would start, my mind drifted to my squadron. The movies would be starting shortly and I wondered if they were having fun right now. Count was probably grumbling to Huxian and pretending to be annoyed while Avril was probably rolling her eyes about Tabloid geeking out over the following Avengers film. That was when I spared a thought for Rosa. I hadn't gotten to talk to her during the recent ops and she said she was busy with some more government meetings after the hurricane. Maybe she was organizing relief efforts for Farbanti? Either way, I hadn't heard from her and while I understood the situation, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed too. Part of me even began to wonder if having a sort-of distance relationship was even a good idea.

I gave a sigh of resignation and affectionately patted the nose of my bird, "Well girl... looks like it's just you and me tonight, huh? You're not going anywhere on me, right?"

Of course the plane didn't answer and I almost laughed at myself at how I must have sounded when I heard the sound of footsteps from behind. I immediately grabbed a wrench from the toolbox nearby and turned around with a start only to come face to face with an unexpected visitor. From the other end of the hangar, I saw a familiar young woman approach. Instead of a royal dress or business wear, she was dressed down to civilian clothes: a plain white blouse and cardigan over a long khaki skirt. As always she had her blonde hair tied up neatly in her distinct crown braid and she graced me with a demure smile as she tentatively approached. "Hello Tom."

I stared in surprise and dropped the wrench in my hand back into the toolbox, "Rosa... I... what are you doing here? And how..."

The princess of Erusea came over and raised her hand to silence me for a moment, "I'm sorry I've been kind of absent lately, but I wanted to make up for that by coming to visit you all, and to see you. I'm sorry I came unannounced, but I thought I'd surprise you. I didn't bring my dog along on this trip, but Prince sends his regards."

"That's okay... the important thing is you're here now," I said with a smile as I put my arms around her. We held each other in an embrace and shared a long tender kiss, enjoying the feeling of warmth and closeness in the cool autumn air. Her lips were as soft and warm as I remembered from that morning aboard the Admiral Andersen and her hair still smelled faintly of lilac flowers. When we finally parted to catch our breaths, she and I couldn't help but smile and laugh a little as we kept our noses and foreheads together.

"Thank you for coming. I've missed you," I admitted quietly.

"And I was worried about you," she answered as she touched my cheek, "I heard about what Strider Squadron did... flying right into that hurricane and destroying Bouchere's warship. I know we couldn't wipe out all of the rebels, but with Harbinger destroyed, I hope that's the last of it."

"I promised him that if there was another attack, we'd be there to stop it too," I said, "The important thing for you right now is to get Erusea's government reorganized. I know that'll take time and that you may still be busy with it but..."

"But it might not be as long as you think," Rosa smiled brightly, "I had made some deals and have been speaking to many important people these last few days. Within a week's time, it's looking like we can organize a coalition government after all. I've gotten support from both major power blocs and I've agreed to have Erusea be a constitutional monarchy."

"That's great news Rosa! I'm happy for you," I said hugging her again. "That means you can officially get things done, like rebuild your country, or help the refugees..."

"And work toward better relations between Osea and Erusea?"

I chuckled, "Well... we've got a good start right here, don't you think?"

Rosa paused and gave a thoughtful look, "Once the government is formed, that also means things will change for me too. I'll become the official monarch of Erusea and they'll coronate me as queen."

"I guess Avril will be happy to hear she can talk to another fellow queen now," I quipped causing Rosa to give me a light slap on my chest.

"I'm serious Tom. This is a big step... and a lot of responsibility. I feel like I've been barely keeping my head above water right now but..."

"But you're going to be fine," I said trying to reassure her, "You've made it this far. You helped end a war and brought your country back together. That was no small task."

Rosa gave a faint smile, "I suppose you have a point there."

"And you've got some friends here," I added, "You know we'd be willing to help keep the peace too."

"Which is why I also wanted to ask if you and your squadron would attend my coronation when the time comes, as official guests of honor."

I laughed gently, "Then I'd be honored. After all... I'd be a fool to refuse the request of a queen, right?"

"Then let me make one more request of you Captain Richter. Kiss me?" the princess replied with a playful smile.

I pressed my lips to hers and did as she asked before stepping back and taking her hand, "What do you say we get out of this drafty hangar and go someplace more comfortable?"

Rosa gave a sly look, "Hmm, that's awfully forward of you, Captain. You do know I still have bodyguards posted outside, right?"

"Actually, I was thinking we could join my friends for movie night. I'm sure they'd be glad to see you again too," I offered as we began to walk hand in hand. "And if you want, maybe I could take you flying tomorrow?"

Rosa smiled as she walked with me, "Yes. I'd like that. If the weather is good..."

"Oh, it will be now," I said as we left the hangar to enjoy the evening, "If you want my prediction, the skies will be looking just like the future for all of us... bright, sunny, and lots of clear blue skies."

Fin

* * *

**A/N:**  
**A big thanks again to everyone who has supported this story: from those who have reviewed, favorited, and followed. Heck, thanks also to all of you silent readers out there too. Hopefully you all enjoyed reading this fun short story and spending a little more time with the heroes of the Lighthouse War. As always, it's been a privilege flying with all of you aces out there.  
**


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